


The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

by DarkJediQueen



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Drama, M/M, Military!Spencer, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:53:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 158,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29604849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: Spencer Reid could see his life in front of him. He was going to find a cure for his mother's illness and save her. Then he meets retired Navy Captain Joseph Nutter who has moved in next door to Spencer and his mother when Spencer is eleven. That changes the course of his entire life.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid/OFC, Spencer Reid/OMC
Comments: 84
Kudos: 165
Collections: Rough Trade Collection





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Year** : 2002-2019  
>  **Spoilers** : Entire Series  
>  **Notes** : Instead of changing over the names of Enlisted on the team, I'm using the names that were started to be used in 2006 for the main part of this. I know it's wrong but I'm going for easy more than perfectly correct and changing the names just after starting to use them.  
>  **Beta** : ScarsLikeVelvet

# Arc 1

## Chapter 1

###  _November 1992_

Spencer Reid heard the words that his mother was spewing at him. He tried not to cry. He was a big boy, and he could handle it. He was eleven, and he was the man of the house. He shouldn't be crying. He shouldn't even feel like he should be crying. Men didn't cry.

"You are not my son! Give me back my son!" Diana rushed at Spencer, and Spencer tried to backpedal to get away from her, but he tripped over his own two feet and landed on his butt very hard. It really hurt a lot, and that made the first tear slip from Spencer's eyes.

Rolling to his hands and knees, Spencer darted under a stand that he almost didn't fit under anymore, and when he was on the other side, he took off running toward the door. There were plenty of places for him to go. He just had to make it out of the backyard, and he would be safe. Diana wouldn't follow him out of the yard. She probably wasn't going to leave the house for fear of someone seeing her and figuring out how to take her from the house. The gate between the two yards was open, so Spencer rushed through it. He left it open for that reason. The fence on the other side was very well maintained, unlike the house that they lived in. After William had left, Spencer hadn't been able to actually do a lot of work needed to repair the things that went wrong. It was always hard to get someone to come out and fix things because Spencer never knew what his mother was going to be like with a stranger in the house. Trying to schedule one for when she was working at the college was hard.

Spencer ran into something that was hard as a rock, and he fell backward like he had been shoved. He looked up to see what he had run into. There was a new neighbor, but Spencer hadn't seen him at all outside of the first day. He didn't spend much time at home at all. There was a man, and he was hiding in the sun so Spencer couldn't see his face.

"I'm sorry, Sir," Spencer said. He knew how to be deferential to someone who was older than him. He knew how to interact with adults better than he did kids his own age. He hadn't been around kids his age all that much.

"It's fine, son," the man said, and he held out a hand.

Spencer couldn't help at the flinch he made when the man did it. Spencer really wished that he could see the man's face, but that was impossible. Spencer looked at the hand for several more seconds before he reached out and took the hand. The man lifted up Spencer with no issue at all.

"I've seen you run through here before. Always look like you are in a hurry, but I never have been your full-face when you do it."

"I'll stop, Sir," Spencer said.

"Nonsense. You aren't hurting anyone, and I know that your gate on your side of the fence is broken, and you made sure it couldn't be opened. If you need to use my yard to get places, it's fine. I don't plan on doing much out here at all. Even if it's just getting used with someone running through it, it will be more use than I give it."

"Spencer Reid, Sir," Spencer said as he offered his hand for a shake. He knew that he probably should have introduced himself first, but he had been so shocked to see the man.

"Joe Nutter, Spencer. You can call me Joe." Joe shook Spencer's hand, and when he did, there was the sound of soft clinking from under his shirt.

Spencer looked to see what kind of necklace he was wearing. He had seen men wearing them before, but those were the men that William tried to keep him from. Joe didn't seem like that kind of man. Still, Spencer let go of his hand and took a step back, looking for an escape plan.

"Retired Master Chief Petty Officer Joseph "Joe" Nutter, at your service, Spencer." Joe pulled his dog tags out of his shirt.

"Oh. I've never met anyone who has been in the military."

"Really?" Joe asked. He crouched down to be level with Spencer.

It felt nice to not have an adult loom over him. Spencer usually didn't have anyone who got on the same level as him. He watched as Joe moved a little, straightening out a leg, and it was then that Spencer noticed the cane that was dropped on the ground a few feet away. He got to his knees and reached over to grab it before handing it to Joe.

"I'm sorry I knocked it from your hands, Sir."

"It's Joe, Spencer. Not Sir, and you didn't. I dropped it over there before I started to stretch out my body to do a little light exercise that I can still do. But thank you for picking it up."

"Is that why you aren't in the military anymore?" Spencer asked, looking at the leg that was stretched out. Spencer could see a brace under the pants now that he was looking. He wondered what had happened to him.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry I asked." Spencer swallowed at the tone that Joe had said the word 'yes' with. It was something that Spencer had heard William use when he was upset about someone taking a case from him at the firm. There was a lot that pissed off William about his life, and Spencer was glad that he was gone, mostly. Spencer would love to have help with Diana, but he was afraid that if he tried to get it, he would be placed somewhere that he wouldn't get what he needed. William didn't care about him, didn't love him, so going to live with him would suck, a lot. The only other option was foster care, and Spencer was sure that it wouldn't be in his best interests at all. To get the degrees that he needed for what he wanted to do with his life, he needed to go to college as soon as he could. Two more years of high school, and he would be out of that hell. He needed to keep his mother as close to sane as he could for the outside world until he was eighteen years old. There was no one else that was going to help him.

Aunts and uncles were horrified that William had left, and they were staying away without caring about why he had left his wife and his son with his wife. Even Diana's family was staying away. Spencer didn't really care. It wasn't like he could trust adults to do anything right anyway. If he could, William would have taken him with him when he left. He used to care about the whole family aspect for his job, but Spencer figured that he didn't anymore because he had got as high as he could for the time being in the firm. After that, it didn't matter if he had a wife as long as he used to have a wife. Lawyers were notorious for getting divorced, especially driven ones.

"You don't have to be sorry about being curious. What kind of person is upset at a child being curious?" Joe asked.

Spencer didn't say anything to that because there were a lot of people who found Spencer's curiosity a fault in him that was unforgivable.

"I can see that you want to say something, but you are afraid of how I am going to react. Tell me because no matter what, how I react, I am not going to hurt you, with words or hands."

Spencer raised an eyebrow at Joe. Joe gave a fond smile after that before he tipped backward and settled on the wet grass on his butt. Spencer sat down as well. Spencer wasn't sure why he should trust Joe's words except that the one thing that he had learned about the military was that getting as high as Joe did, he had to be either a really good person who did what was needed or he was a horrible person who delighted in the killing. Though that part could just be a bias from William. Spencer hadn't met a military man or woman to be able to figure that out. He would have to go with his gut that he didn't think Joe was a bad buy.

"There are a lot of people that I have met that don't like me being curious. I don't even ask that many questions, I think. They just don't like me, I think."

"Well, that's their loss. I think you are pretty great."

Spencer felt something inside of him that he didn't feel unless his mother was praising him. He really liked it.

"So how did you get that black eye?"

"Bullies at school. They are good at doing it, and the school doesn't care because they are popular, and I am not."

"That happens everywhere. Have you tried to fight back? Bullies usually don't like that."

"Fight back? With what? My words? I can't even throw a punch."

"That doesn't mean anything. You don't have to throw a punch to fight back. You can trip them. There are fighting styles that are good for people your size. Using their strength against them."

"My father tried to teach me baseball, and that was."

"I see. Well, if you ever want to learn. I'll gladly do it. I need something to keep me entertained while I try and figure out what I want to do with my life."

"How come you don't know?" Spencer asked.

"Well, Spencer. I always figured that I would die out in the field, but that didn't happen. I couldn't see myself riding behind a desk or doing anything like that for the rest of my life, so I never took the officer track in the SEALs."

Spencer figured that his eyes look bugged out. Joe was a SEAL? That was something that Spencer hadn't placed on him for what he did. SEALs were hard asses, according to what William had told him. Joe seemed so soft. He wasn't anything like that Spencer thought a SEAL would be.

"Do you regret that?" Spencer asked.

"No. Not at all. I couldn't do a desk job. I would die in a very different way being stuck behind a desk. I will find something that makes me happy outside of the military, and it will help make sure that I don't die inside."

Spencer understood what Joe was talking about with that. Diana felt that way if she couldn't teach. It was a big sticking point for Spencer because he didn't want her to do something that would get it found out that she was heading toward where she couldn't take care of him anymore.

"I should go," Spencer said. He looked back at the house, and he hoped that Diana was calmed down enough to where she recognized him. He really didn't want to have her start to scream at him, and Joe heard.

"You have a good afternoon, Spencer, and come over for a chat whenever you want." Joe got up slowly, using the cane to make sure that he wasn't going to fall down again. Spencer hovered to make sure that he didn't as well.

There was something in Joe's eyes that said that he knew more than Spencer wanted him to. Spencer wasn't going to talk to him anymore. Joe was too smart, and he was going to figure it out.

* * *

Joe looked out into the front yard to see that Spencer was still pacing back and forth on the sidewalk between the two houses. He turned back to his book and took a sip of his coffee. He had seen Spencer walking home from school. He had watched the boy walk to the front porch but hesitate to actually go into his own home.

The yelling had been audible even to him when he was outside, but he was pretty sure that whatever was wrong with Diana Reid, she loved her son. He could see that in everything that she did around him. There wasn't a lot of space to see from his house into theirs, but he could see them on occasion. Spencer listening to his mother reading from a book and the boy soaking up every single word. She cooked when she could, but Joe could tell that she spent a lot of time in bed or pacing in her bedroom. It was strange and wonderful to see all at the same time. Diana had been a beauty, but there was a sickness inside of her that sapped the glow that she should have.

Joe had meant to introduce himself when he had moved in two weeks prior, but he had not done that when he had heard Diana ranting about government agents at one point. While Spencer might not have figured out that Joe was military by the way that he stood and spoke, someone who was as educated as Diana Reid would. Joe had done his due diligence on the people he was moving in next door to. Though by the time that he moved in, the husband, William Reid, was gone from the house, and Joe hadn't seen him since. He had nearly asked Spencer about that the day before but stopped himself. There was a deep sadness inside of Spencer where it came to his father.

Thinking about his own parents made Joe's heart hurt. They had died while he was overseas for a spin up. He had been given the option of going home, but he hadn't. His parents had wanted to be cremated with no fuss outside of a memorial at some point. There had been no funeral, and Joe had handled it all while missing a single little encounter. When he had come back home after the spin-up, Joe had taken care of things and did what his parents wanted.

Joe looked out the window again to see Spencer's face straight on. The black eye that he had the day before was still there, but it was bigger, and parts were very evidently to be fresher. Joe curled a fist and tried to push away the anger that was welling up inside of him. He hated it when children were injured. There were bullying issues across the country, and Joe could never understand why no one wanted to do a damned thing about it.

Grabbing the pad beside him, Joe scratched out a note to talk to Francis about finding a good program to donate money to for bullying prevention in at least Vegas. He added a start to it. There were a lot of things already on the list, this was a priority. As well as the deeper dive into precisely what William Reid was up to with his life that didn't involve his obviously mentally unstable wife and leaving his son in her hands.

Spencer started up the walkway toward Joe's porch, but he stopped again just at the stairs and turned back around. He began to pace there on the sidewalk. Joe was more than willing to wait him out at least until dinner. The roast that was in the crockpot would be more than enough for the boy, as well. He just didn't have anything that wasn't beer in his fridge. He drank coffee in the morning and then water the rest of the day and at least a beer with dinner, sometimes more if he was watching a game on the TV.

A knock on the front door actually made Joe jump a little. He looked out to see that Spencer wasn't pacing anymore. It meant that he was either the one knocking or whoever was knocking had been the one to scare him off.

Joe got up, his leg a little stiff from sitting like he had been, and he worked it loose as he walked across the living room to the front door.

"Mister Joe, Sir," Spencer stuttered out.

"Just Joe, Spencer. Come on in."

Spencer nearly tripped over his own two feet to get into the house. He looked around with wide, curious eyes but kept himself in the area that could be called a foyer if Joe was trying to be fancy.

"Can you teach me to get away from bullies?" Spencer blurted out after nearly a minute of silence.

"I can. Go over home and change into your gym clothes." It was November, but it wasn't that cold at the moment, and Joe knew that Spencer would be working up a sweat.

"I brought them with me. They are on the porch. I wasn't sure if you would have time, and I didn't want to show up in them."

"Tell your mother what you are going to be doing."

"I told her that I was getting a few lessons from someone down the street on science."

"You shouldn't lie to your mother, Spencer." Joe wanted to see what Spencer was going to say to that.

"She's-" Spencer bit at his lip and sighed. "She's not lucid today, Sir, so I left the note as well as the time that I'll be back. She's got her dinner ready for her to get from the fridge if she decides it's not poisoned."

Joe took that in. He knew that Spencer was pretty sure that Joe knew something was wrong with her, but to lay it out like that was astounding. Joe wondered what he had done to make Spencer trust him so much after just a single day. It was strange to think that this boy was good at reading people. There was on intelligence to his eyes, though. It was weird to see that in a boy his age. He wondered what the boy's IQ was.

"Well, I know that your mother's room is on the far side of the house, but what will she do if she sees you here?"

"I don't know, Sir."

Joe would fight the battle on the Sir thing at a later time. There was a lot of other stuff that he needed to work through with the boy.

"You walk from school every single day? The middle school is pretty far from here."

"I go to the high school." The words were matter of fact, and there was no real pride in them.

Joe looked at the boy and tried to read him. If Joe had been in high school at that age, he would be a bit more full of pride about it. It was a good thing. Even if he was a freshman.

"So, do you like phys ed?"

"No, Sir."

"Why not?"

"I get made fun of in there. Even before I moved to the high school. I'm too skinny and awkward. I hear the jeers and taunts no matter how much I want to tune them out."

"What made you change your mind on coming over here to ask me to help?"

"I don't want another black eye without at least trying to get away."

Joe could see that. There was a point in everyone's life where they decided that enough was too much, and there was something in his interaction with Joe that had pushed that tipping point to today.

"You aren't going to like me much at all during this, Spencer. I'm going to claim a lot of your free time that's not spent on studies. You'll find yourself playing less than other kids your age."

"I read, Sir, for fun. I don't play. I suck at sports, and there are no kids in the area that even want to be seen with me."

Joe wondered about that, and he hated it.

"Then, I want you to run around the block."

"The block, Sir?"

"We are going to warm up your muscles first. I need to pay attention to me as I show them to you. I don't want to have to show you again."

"Yes, Sir." Spencer swallowed, and his eyes darted around the room again.

"Grab your clothes. The third door to the left is the guest bathroom. Get changed."

Two hours later, Joe was serving up dinner to himself and Spencer and figured out that while Spencer might be a geek or a nerd, depending on which version of Spencer you saw. He was all heart. He looked ready to pass out at the table, and Joe didn't feel all that upset about it. He grabbed four rolls from the bag that he had baked the day before and settled them on a plate to go into the oven to warm up for a few minutes before he served them. He wanted Spencer to eat some vegetables and meat before he stuffed himself with starch.

Spencer took a sip of his water before he yawned. Francis was going to yell at him for taking on a kid like this. Still, at least it gave him something to do that wasn't catching up on the reading that he had missed over the years in the service and doing his physical therapy. He was already figuring out how to move things around, so he had his afternoons free to work with Spencer. The boy wasn't eating nearly enough to where he was going to do anything but hurt his body. He was used to a sedentary life, and Joe was going to push that out of him.

Joe dipped out the potatoes as well as a half onion that was cut in half that was spread on the top of the roast.

"Onion?" Spencer asked.

"Yes."

"Can I have some?"

"Sure." Joe dipped out the last half and dropped it onto the plate for Spencer. He cut off a good chunk of meat. He wasn't sure how much Spencer could eat, but he would see about expanding his food to where he was eating enough, at least at dinner, to make up for what he was doing in the afternoons.

Joe had never wanted kids. He had never seen himself getting married. Still, as retirement age had come up closer and then, he had been put out on medical discharge, Joe kind of regretted that. Even if Spencer wandered away from him as soon as he learned all that he needed to at least get away from the bullies, Joe would enjoy the time. Francis had always said his heart was too soft for him to be a SEAL. He had pushed. He got where he wanted to go through and never regretted anything until he wasn't in the military anymore.

Spencer inhaled the food like he hadn't eaten all day, which Joe wasn't sure, but he hoped that the school at least fed him lunch.

"What did you eat for lunch?"

"It was spaghetti at school, so I traded Jake across the table for his vegetables, fruit, milk, and garlic bread by giving him my cookie and entree. I hate that stuff, and he loves it. We always do that. I got full, but even the bread doesn't have a lot of staying power. I was going to make myself a sandwich when I got home, but I forgot."

Joe couldn't read a line of lie in Spencer's body language. He wondered if the boy lied about anything, really. He seemed so earnest, but that didn't mean a damned thing. He had to be good to a certain extent about lying to pull off calming his mother. Spencer wasn't so skinny that he felt like he wasn't getting enough food. Diana was thin as well, and Joe figured that genetics was part of that. Still, Spencer could do with some fat on him that his body could store for puberty.

"Two hours every single afternoon and your mornings on the weekend are mine if you want to keep on doing this, Spencer. I'm going to be hard on you, and you are probably going to have days where you hate me."

"I could never hate you," Spencer said, his fork paused in being raised to his mouth.

"You say that now, but you won't always think it. I promise that."

Spencer nodded his head and shoved the fork with his last bite of roast into his mouth. There was a whole potato left, but Spencer started to cut it up, and it was gone in what seemed like seconds. Joe made a mental note that Spencer loved roast. He would have to see about beef stew next.

* * *

Spencer felt like he was dying as he pushed himself up and out of bed. He grabbed the long pants that Joe had bought for him to wear since it was cooler out since the sun wasn't up. The sun wasn't even up yet. Spencer had told Diana about having a science thing first thing in the morning that he was going to walk to the school to do, and she had been pleased with that. She was glad that he was finding people to hang out with finally. Spencer didn't want to burst her bubble about how happy she was about it all, so he just kept up the ruse that seemed like a lie to him. Keeping her happy was the biggest thing in Spencer's life. He was more than happy to keep on letting her think what she wanted as long as she didn't think that he wasn't her son.

Dressing in the dark and carefully, Spencer tried not to make noise. He found the messenger bag that he had filled with two books and some snacks from the kitchen the night before after his mother had gone to bed. The bullies had been leaving him alone for the rest of the week after he had started to train with Joe. It was weird as hell training because all they had done so far was a lot of stuff that Spencer did in the gym, but with Joe there, Spencer was less self-conscious, so he tripped less.

The house was almost too quiet without his mother wandering around. Spencer just grabbed a bag of cereal from the kitchen to snack on while he waited for Joe to wake up and get going. Spencer walked down the path and then across the sidewalk to head up to Joe's porch. The outside light was on, so Spencer settled himself down on the top step, and he pulled out the first book that he wanted to read. He had seen it on Joe's kitchen table, so he had grabbed a copy at the library on his way home from school on Friday. He hadn't got to start it as his mother had gone out with friends the night before, so Spencer had spent a great deal of time with Joe.

Spencer wasn't sure that he should be getting as attached as he was, but unlike Spencer's father, Joe listened to Spencer. Joe also didn't mind just having Spencer in the room with him while he did the things that he usually did. Spencer had spent most of the night reining in himself on touching things that he shouldn't. Namely, Joe's books.

There was a strange feeling that pulled Spencer out of his reading. He looked around, but there was no one on the street, and it was still dark with only a small bit of the horizon lighting up with the rising sun. Spencer listened to the world around him, but there was nothing. Then there was the tap of Joe's cane on the wood. Spencer spun around, slamming the book shut. Joe was standing there with a softshell cooler on a strap over his shoulder. He was looking at Spencer, with what seemed like an indulgent smile on his face.

"Spencer, what exactly is your IQ?" Joe asked.

Spencer wanted to tell him that he didn't know, but Joe seemed to have a knack for knowing when he was lying. He didn't want to lie to Joe. Joe liked him for who he was or seemed to. Or at least he didn't want to see Spencer bullied anymore.

"One hundred and eighty-seven, Sir."

"And your reading speed?"

"The last time I tested myself; it was around fifteen hundred words per minute."

"Is there anything else in regards to your learning that goes along with that?"

Spencer closed his eyes and tipped his head down. He opened his eyes to slip his book down into his messenger bag, careful not to crush his food in there. "I have an eidetic memory."

"I see. Well, then I think we are going to stop someplace today after we get done with the park and pick up a few things. You are a visual learner as well as self, yes?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. I was going to walk, but how about we take my Jeep?"

"Jeep?"

"Yes. I have the top off, so it's going to be cold this morning, but by the time we are done, I think you'll love how the air feels on your sweaty skin."

Spencer nodded his head, and he stood up. He tried to take the cooler from Joe, but the man just shoved his hand off and waved for Spencer to walk in front of him. The garage was not open, but Joe took care of that with a clicker in his hand that he slipped into the front pocket of the cooler.

There were two vehicles in the garage. The first was a smaller car that was good for longer trips or at least not driving around in a Jeep. The second was the Jeep, with everything off of it that could legally come off. There were not even doors on it. Spencer looked at the side where he would go and found that it wasn't set up with a standard seat belt but something that looked like crash webbing from a military vehicle from the movies. He got up inside and leaned around to find a place to stick his messenger bag. He stopped because there wasn't unless he wanted it to slip around on the set or the floor, and the floor was very, very dirty.

"I'll put it in the back, Spencer," Joe said as he appeared right at Spencer's side with his hand outstretched.

Spencer clenched the strap of the bag before he nodded and handed it over. He turned in the seat, sitting with his knees and shins on the seat to watch as Joe put it and the cooler in a bit of webbing in the backspace of the Jeep. Spencer didn't turn around to sit down normal until Joe was slipping into the Jeep.

Watching Joe put on his harness, Spencer did the same and found that it was easy to work. Joe reached over but stopped when he saw that Spencer was all ready in the seat to go.

"Huh, I've had grown adults not able to get themselves into that."

"It's stupidly simple if you pay attention to someone else putting it on."

"You know that's one of the first time I have seen you take pride in something that your mind gives you."

"Why should I be proud of something I was given? I didn't work for my reading speed, my memory, or even my IQ. Keeping my IQ from dropping and keeping my mind busy is something else."

"There are a lot of people who take a lot of pride in the turn of their face or their ability to do things that others can't that they were given. It's human nature."

"People are idiots."

Joe didn't say anything as he backed out of the garage and onto the street. Spencer wondered if he had said something wrong, but Joe didn't seem upset.

The city flashed by as they drove. Spencer wasn't sure if Joe being quiet was a good thing or not. Joe hadn't yelled at him to get out of the Jeep, so he must not be that upset at Spencer's words.

Joe parked them at the park; it was a different one than the one that Spencer went to on occasion when it was nice out to read, and he wanted to be away from home. Spencer reached out to unbuckle the harness but stopped when he saw Joe hold out a hand like he wished to Spencer to stay.

"No one else is going to care about your IQ and other things, that true, not at the age you are, but Spencer you could ignore them. I know of geniuses who don't want it and refuse to do anything with their life about it. They are unhappy. I don't mean what you need to shove it in people's faces but be proud of what you can do, no matter how much of it you have taught yourself or how much you have earned just by being born. No one else is going to care about it unless you make them care."

Every single chance that Spencer got throughout the morning, he thought about that. While he was learning how to distance run in short stretches while also paying more attention to his feet on the rougher terrain that Joe made him run on a little bit after a while. In fact, it seemed like Spencer had a lot to think about, and all of it centered around Joe Nutter.

The end of their time together for the day couldn't have come faster to Spencer. It seemed Joe was more than willing to put Spencer through his paces when it came to their Saturday. Spencer slumped down into the front seat of the Jeep and buckled himself in. Joe had brought plenty of water and a few snacks that were better for Spencer than what he had packed. Spencer had made notes about them for his weekly shopping trip that he did on Sunday afternoon.

Joe started up the Jeep, and it wasn't long before they were on the road. Spencer itched to pull out his book and read, but it was too far away, and he was almost afraid that he would fall asleep if he started to read it. He sighed as he looked around at what was inside of the Jeep.

"Hungry?" Joe asked.

"Yes," Spencer replied as he pulled his gaze away from the radio that was in the Jeep. He looked at Joe and then around at where they were. They were in a small area that was near where they lived but had restaurants and shopping places. It was the opposite direction of where they had started.

"Good. So am I. My bowl of cereal hasn't held me over with yelling at you. There is a nice place near here that I love to eat a good breakfast at."

"Oh. I didn't bring money."

"Spencer. I'm the adult. I do not take a child to a place and expect them to pay for it."

"I'm fine you wanna drop me at home. I can find a good lunch there. I promise." Spencer gripped his pants in one hand and rubbed his thumb up and down the fabric. It was a soothing technique that he did when he could hear his mother ranting and raving from her bedroom.

"Spencer."

"Yes, Sir. I'll eat, Sir." Spencer knew the tone that Joe had used. It was the same one that he got every single night when he tried to leave before eating dinner. Joe was an excellent cook, and Spencer loved eating his food. Even things that he never would have tried before. Joe forced him to try something before allowing him to eat something that was leftover in the fridge for Joe for lunch.

The break on money for dinner was great too. Spencer was able to get his mother some better things that she would eat. While William sent money to help them live and his mother had insurance from work, Spencer knew that things happened like washers or fridges breaking, so he put away as much as he could. At the start of school, there was always a bigger check, so Spencer could get clothes, but Spencer was okay with wearing the same things over and over. He only replaced things when he had to. His mother's clothes were easier as she always bought the same things over and over again.

Spencer followed Joe into the restaurant and saw that it was pretty empty for eleven on a Saturday. Saturdays were for sleeping in, so the breakfast crowd was gone, and the lunch crowd hadn't started to trickle in yet. Spencer slipped into a booth after Joe had picked where he was going to sit.

The menus were dropped down onto the table as well as two cups full of coffee. Spencer looked up at Joe.

"You earned that. Sheila is getting some cream for you." Joe lifted up his coffee and took a drink of it.

Spencer sipped at it to figure out how much sugar he wanted in the coffee and found that it wasn't as bad as the stuff he had bought the last time at the store because it was cheap. He had regretted it and given it away to a lady down the street that drank horrible coffee anyway. He sighed as he waited for the cream once the sugar was in it.

Sheila dropped that off and disappeared again. Spencer finished his coffee and then started to look at the menu. It was lunchtime, but they served breakfast all day. Spencer tried to figure out which was the biggest meal that he could get for cheap.

"Spencer," Joe said as he tapped the table to make sure that Spencer actually looked at him. "You get what you know you can eat. I don't care about price as long as you eat the food that you order."

"Yes, Sir." Spencer tried not to look at the prices on the menu. He had taught himself to do that though it was really hard.

When Sheila came back to get their orders. Joe seemed pleased when Spencer ordered not only one of the bigger meals on the menu but a side of extra potatoes as well. Spencer showed him that he was doing what Joe asked by eating all of it as well as the slice of bacon that Joe couldn't finish off of his own plate.

###  _January 1993_

Spencer looked around at the trees that were all laid out for the trash men to take. Christmas was long over in Spencer's mind, and New Year's a fading memory. The neighborhoods around the area were becoming a place that Spencer felt safe. No one bothered him when he was on his morning run. He was good to do what he wanted. His lungs no longer burned, and waking up at dawn was rote at this point. Mornings were for runs, even during the week before school. Afternoons were for working with Joe unless Spencer had something after school, but then he had that day off from Joe as long as he ran. Evenings were for doing homework and studying whatever Spencer had found at the library to study.

The pounding of his feet under him, as always, had Spencer's mind focusing on a lot of other things. Like what he wanted to do when he got to Caltech. It was already a shoo-in that he would get there on early admission. There had been a recruiter at Spencer's school just before the holiday break, and he had been very interested in Spencer. It was the only place that Spencer wanted to go. It wasn't too far from home, and yet he could get back there easily if he wished to and cheaply. He didn't want to uproot his mother, and he could make it on his own in Pasadena. He just wouldn't leave the campus a lot.

Spencer already had his entire life there figured out. He had his life planned all the way until he was eighteen and could put his mother into the place that she needed to go. Her insurance from work would cover it, and she would be able to keep that insurance if she retired. It was the lynchpin of the whole thing. She would be able to retire in a few years, according to the guidelines by the college. He just had to get her there before her ravings were found out. She was back to teaching full time now that the semester was back in session, and she was doing her full course load. There was a lot to be said for TAs that were dedicated.

There was the sound of screeching tires, so Spencer stopped and looked around. He found where the car had lost control and then thankfully corrected before crashing into another vehicle that had gone into the intersection on the green light. There was no wreck, but there could have been a horrible one. In the darkness, it was hard to see what was happening now that lights were moving on from the cars. Spencer waited to make sure no one was going to start yelling before he started on his run again.

Spencer hadn't believed Joe when he said that even someone as scrawny as him could build muscle and get into shape. Yet that was what Spencer was finding on his body. It wasn't a lot as it didn't really start to become something his body did until puberty, but there was some of it. He wondered just what he would look like if he kept this up with Joe was good to him.

The rest of the run was easy, and Spencer ended up back on his porch, where he had laid out his oatmeal to eat when he got done. There was also a thermos of coffee there with just enough to make sure that he had a good bit of energy to go after he did his run. Just as he was finishing off his oatmeal, Joe was moving around in his kitchen. Spencer grabbed his coffee as well as the backpack that held the homework that he needed to do over the course of the day, and he slipped over to Joe's porch. He tried the knob and found it unlocked. Spencer slipped inside and settled in at the coffee table in the living room to work on what he could before Joe came out with his breakfast to tell Spencer about the day that he had planned for them.

"Hungry?" Joe asked as he did every single Saturday and Sunday morning.

"No, Sir. I ate oatmeal today."

"How has that been working out for you?"

"Good. I make it before my run, and it's nice and cold when I get back."

"You are weird," Joe said. He settled in on the couch and started to eat his breakfast while the morning news played on the TV. It was silent with closed captioning playing instead.

Spencer dug into his work and let the sounds of the near-silent house wash over him. His mother had been getting a little worse with what seemed like every single day. Spencer had thought at first that it was him being gone, so he had taken a week where he just ran every single morning, but even at the end of that week, Diana was still as bad off as she had been.

Joe had been disappointed with him, but he understood. When Spencer had started back up, it had been hell as Joe had put him through his paces to show him what even a week off was doing to him.

"What are you working on?"

"Paper for history class."

"The one you needed to read those books of mine for?"

"Yes, Sir."

"How much longer?"

"Thirty-five minutes and I should be done, and we can go to the park."

There were no words spoken as Spencer finished up the paper. There were a few things that he needed to read for the next paper in the class, but it was still a month away. Spencer was doing a lot of self-paced courses for history, and classes like it. Math and science were all in the classroom. The self-paced ones were still rigorous as Spencer wanted to test out of all of them as quick as possible. He was in AP everything else, and while the work was long to do, it was never hard.

"Done," Spencer said as he slipped the paper into the folder that it needed to be kept in to hand in to the teacher who was running the class.

"Good. Go and stretch before we go."

"Yes, Sir." Spencer stripped out of the long-sleeved shirt that he was wearing and dropped it on the chair that was inside of the door. The T-shirt that he had on underneath was tighter than Spencer would generally like but any looser, and it felt weird under the other shirt. It was January in Las Vegas, and that meant cold nights, and Spencer didn't hold warmth well at all.

Joe was loading up the Jeep with things they would need for the morning at the park before coming back to the house to eat lunch. If Spencer did well and evaded Joe as much as he would like him to, Spencer would get treated to a meal out. Spencer hadn't earned one since just before Christmas. Spencer didn't want to upset Joe by not doing his best, but he was still having trouble acting like he was going to hurt Joe. The man could move well, despite the injury to his leg. Spencer knew that Joe was going to do something drastic when he finally saw Spencer. The training the day before had been just stamina again like it was during the week. Weekends were the rough and tumble part, and it would be easy to see the scabs that were forming on Spencer's upper body.

Being cornered at school had not gone well for Spencer. He hadn't had a chance to use his new speed to get away like he had because they had come at him from all angles when he had been walking home the day before. Joe would demand to see the entire bit of what he called road rash on Spencer's back and shoulder.

"Go," Joe called out after Spencer had run through all of his stretches.

Spencer ran to the park closest to the house, an all-out sprint with stopping only for traffic, but a lot of people in the neighborhood stopped for him instead. Usually, at least once a weekend, he was able to make it without stopping outside of the main road around the park. He took off like a rocket, knowing that Joe would get to the park and get things out of the Jeep before Spencer made it to where they trained.

There was something for the physicality of all of this that had Spencer's brain shutting down. He only focused on the next block in front of him. Keeping an eye out for traffic. He was winded by the time that he made it to the area of the park where he was going to be for the next few hours.

Joe was just getting there, and Spencer wasn't sure until he looked at Joe's face if he was just faster than usual or Joe had been slower. Joe looked at Spencer with pride in his eyes, and that told Spencer that he was just quicker than average.

"Go ahead through all of the poses," Joe said.

"Sure." Spencer started to work his body through the yoga poses that Joe had taught him. It helped keep Joe's leg from seizing up and so Spencer liked to do it with him on the weekends, so they had worked it into what they did.

Spencer fell to the ground and looked up into the sky. His ribs felt like they were going to break out of his chest with how hard he was breathing. He looked to the side to see where Joe was a few feet away from him. He knew that Joe was in pain. Spencer had finally done it. He had used Joe's larger size to get away from him. That meant that he was going to get good food for lunch today. Spencer let himself smile.

"You know there is still a lot of work that we need to do, right?"

"I know, but I won. For once, I won." Spencer didn't care that the grass was still wet. He didn't care that he was probably getting germs and all manner of things into his wounds on his back. He only cared that he had done it. He wanted to keep on going, but he knew that he could hurt himself if he pushed too much. He had done that in the beginning, and it had sucked as Joe had just made him work through it.

Joe was the hardest taskmaster in the world. If boot camp was even half as bad as Joe, it was horrible. He wasn't sure why people went into the military.

"So, are you hungry?" Joe asked. He was walking toward Spencer, but his face was impassive like it normally was. His resting face was pretty good, even to Spencer.

"Yes."

"Have you ever had Sushi?" Joe asked.

"No. Is it good? Mom has issues with raw things."

"There is a place near here that does some great sushi."

"Near here is halfway across town, you, Sir." Spencer couldn't break that habit. He knew that Joe would rather him call him Joe to his face, but there was just something inside of Spencer that made him feel like he couldn't do that.

"And? You've got what a paper for AP Chemistry and a mock test to do for Calculus three, right?"

"Yes."

"And your mother is supposed to be out most of the day. You can do those and pick a few new books to read of mine. Then you can head home before your mother gets home and make something for you two to eat."

"She's going to be out for dinner as well. One of her friends from college is in, and they are hanging out. She doesn't like kids, so Mom has me stay away for the day. I can do whatever you want for the rest of the day."

"Do you have homework you were planning to do tomorrow?"

"No, Sir. This is it. I did the rest between classes yesterday. I was just going to read the rest of the weekend."

"Well, how about if your mother isn't home I teach you to pack a ready bag for my place and you can shower there, and we can see about finding stuff to keep us entertained?"

"Sure." Spencer wondered for a few minutes like he did a lot how it would be to have Joe as a father instead of William.

###  _April 1993_

Joe usually considered himself a calm and rational man. However, having Spencer show up at his house at nine in the morning when he should be at school with a bloody face had tipped him over into pissed off. He had cleaned up Spencer's face while he thought about the kind of man that William Reid was. He really wanted to just beat the shit out of him, but that would never work with a man like him. There were a few ways to win with him, but Joe had a weapon that would go over better to a man like William Reid.

"Ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"We are going to make a stop after I get some breakfast in you. I'm thinking pancakes." Joe touched Spencer's cheek, where there was a lot of bruising. "Have you called the school?"

"Yes, I faked puking while I was on the line with them and told them that mom was already at work."

"Good then lets you some food into you, and then we can do what else I need to do today."

"Sure." Spencer sounded more subdued than Joe had heard him in a long time. He had been coming out of his awkward shell and was acting less like a startled colt around Joe. It had been great to see it.

Joe wanted to drag Spencer right to his father's office and demand an explanation, but Joe needed to get Spencer calm. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but it had happened at home. The black eye was from the night before. Joe knew more than enough about bruises to know that. The bloody nose, cut on his head, and the split and swollen lip were from just before when Spencer had come to his house.

Spencer allowed Joe to take care of his face with no words spoken. He tried to hold in the hisses of pain when Joe worked on getting the lip cleaned out. By the time that Spencer went to school on Monday, he was going to look like he had been beaten up, and it was going to make the bullies swim around him like sharks. Joe really didn't want that to happen, but at the moment, there was little he could do that wouldn't draw more attention to what was going on at Spencer's home, and that was something that Spencer wasn't ready to face.

Breakfast out was subdued, and Joe wanted to make Spencer drink and eat more, but his face had to be hurting, and Spencer had refused the over the counter painkillers that he had tried to give him. Joe hoped that once Spencer had food in his stomach, he stopped doing that.

Joe ushered Spencer out into the Jeep and made sure that the coffee for Spencer was in reach in the cupholder. The boy hadn't been doing well with a mug, so the to-go cup had been better. He could control where the liquid went in relation to his lips. Traffic was light, even for Vegas. It was like the city knew that Joe was at the end of his tether.

"This is-" Spencer stopped talking when Joe turned off the engine and started to get out.

There was a packet of papers that Joe had drawn up with Francis' help that he had never discussed with Spencer. Spencer needed more protection than Joe could give him at the moment, and while Joe would love to take him from his mother, that would destroy Spencer right now. So he was going to settle for getting William Reid out of his life.

Joe wrapped a hand around the side of Spencer's neck, pulling him close as he tucked the packet under his arm. He could walk without his cane, it wasn't good for a long time, but he was good at it. He had lived with his injury for two years now. He was settled down into being as recovered as he was going to get. There was nothing else for him to do but put one foot in front of the other. Spencer had changed his world view, though. He could do something that was worthwhile and not have to worry about leaving a mark other than making sure that Spencer Reid was the best man that he could be.

"May I help you?" a receptionist asked as they entered the building.

Spencer looked nervous, and the woman there didn't know him at all. Her eyes glanced over Spencer, showing a little concern for the wounds on Spencer's face, but that was it. She looked at Joe with a pasted-on smile on her face.

"I know where I am going, thank you." Joe pushed Spencer toward the elevator that would take them up to the area where his father's law office was.

"How do you know?" Spencer asked after they were in the elevator alone. Joe pushed the button for the floor that William Reid was on.

"What am I, Spencer?" Joe asked.

"A SEAL," Spencer answered, and he nodded his head in understanding.

Joe had already read Spencer in on how much work it was and everything that went into being a SEAL. No SEAL went in unless they had to if they didn't know everything.

"Can I help you?" another receptionist asked. Her eyes at least darted to Spencer with a look of recognition in her eyes. At least one person knew who he was.

"Tell William Reid that his son is here to see him."

"I'm sorry, but Mister Reid can't be disturbed today, and young Mister Reid can go home to wait on him to show up there tonight." She didn't even have the grace to look upset at the words. She didn't look anything at the words at all.

"Then I'll just take young Mister Reid to the hospital where he can tell the cops the whole story about how his mother did this to him and that his father left him in the hands of an unstable woman."

"Sir," Spencer hissed, but he didn't try and get away from the hand that Joe had on his shoulder.

The woman got up and rushed out of the room toward a hallway that Joe was pretty sure led to the area where the offices were. He really hoped that she was doing that and not getting security. Spencer might hate him for making a scene, but security would have to get a hold of the cops to get Joe to go away before he got what he wanted.

Three minutes later, a man came out with the woman following behind him.

"Hello, my name is William Reid. Please come back to my office, and we can discuss what my son has done."

Joe kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to make a scene unless he had to. He kept his hand on Spencer's shoulder as they followed William back to his office. The office was huge, and it seemed like he was doing well for himself. Joe settled Spencer into a chair before he sat down himself. The office door was shut, and William figured that the woman had followed them back to make sure that they didn't go off the rails.

"What have you got yourself into now, Spencer?" William asked.

"Why do you think that he did anything?"

"He's always had an issue with talking back to those that he shouldn't. I'm not shocked that someone has taken him to task for it."

"Well, then I guess it will make you feel better that Spencer got these injuries this morning before he even left home, wouldn't it?"

"Sir," Spencer whispered. It echoed around the room, and Spencer flushed as it did.

"Spencer tells lies," William said.

"I never did introduce myself. Master Chief Petty Officer Joseph Nutter, retired. I live next door to Diana and Spencer. I know he's not lying. So what are you going to do about this?"

"I'm not taking him in. I have no clue what to do with him. His mother handles his genius well."

"I'm not a genius, you know. I rate pretty well on the scales, but I am not someone who is going to win a single award when it comes to that. So how come I've been able to keep up with him over the last while and keep him entertained and made sure that he was okay. You don't need a degree to handle a child, even a genius child. You just need to actually give a fuck."

William puffed up like he was going to say something, but he looked at Spencer and it went away.

"I refuse."

"Good. Then you won't mind then if I take legal custody of him. Shared with his mother, but you basically sign your rights away, and I take them." Joe slipped the papers from the folder and handed them over. "You'll support Diana, and I'll take over Spencer. Unless you would like to divorce her as well, then you'll pay alimony. Which will be equal to what she needs to live."

William took forever to read over the papers. There were the divorce papers, which would need to be taken care of in a more legal way as Diana had to sign them as well, but the custody papers were easy. Joe had made sure of that. Francis made sure that the company had the best lawyers, and they knew the best in every field. It wasn't hard to find someone in Vegas that would take it and draw it up.

"How is it being played?"

"I'm an old friend from way back, and I've stopped in and checked on you over the years. I moved back here after finally injuring out of the military, and I'm willing to step in when you decide you just don't want a kid. You made that decision and asked me to draw these up."

"Why do you think I am going to just pass off my kid to you?" William asked.

"You don't want him. I do."

"You could sell him."

"I'll ignore that and just ask you about the new accounts that your firm has taken on. Hastings Holdings, right?"

William looked shocked.

"Who is the owner of that company?"

"Joseph-" William stopped then.

Joe looked at Spencer to see that Spencer was perplexed.

"Francis is my CEO. He does wonderfully with the business. While I help him make decisions on things going forward, and I sit on a few board meetings now that I am retired from active service. I have no desire to take over the company. I would probably fire everyone who is there. I might even burn it to the ground because I have never had the want to run it. I didn't even want to lead troops in the field as Master Chief, but I did it because I had to. I was good at what I did."

"This is for an all but adoption guardianship," William said.

"Yes. I would never take him from his mother unless she were fully a threat against him. Right now, she's got her, and while she did do this, he's good at getting away most of the time. Someone needs to be able to take him to the doctor, though. Someone needs to have a head on their shoulders to help her raise him, and since you aren't. If you sign now, or after you talk it over with your partners and such, I'll not hunt you for sport."

Spencer turned to look at Joe, a shocked look on his face.

"You'll have the paperwork as soon as possible."

"Good. And Spencer is covered under your wife's insurance policy?"

"Yes as well as mine. I'll make sure that mine is taken care of, and he's covered well enough on hers. He's a rather healthy child, so you don't have to worry about that. Minus self-inflicted injuries."

Joe was pretty sure that Spencer wanted to leap across the desk and punch his father. It was the first bit of real emotion that he had seen on his face before. William Reid was the weak point. That could be fixed, though. He was sure that Diana was another, but it wasn't like Joe could ever get rid of that one. Spencer was wholly attached to Diana, and given how William was acting, Joe could understand why.

"Spencer," William said, and it drew Spencer's eyes back to him. "Do you want this?"

"Yes, Sir," Spencer said, and it sounded nothing like when Spencer said that to him. There was respect and fondness in the way that Spencer said it to him. There was fear and loathing in it when Spencer said it to William. That was never anything that should be in the voice of a child when they were talking to their parents.

Joe's parents had been loving. They supported him in his bid to join the Navy and then the SEALs, even though it would take him away from the business that they had built. Joe had pushed Francis into it, and he was working his way through the ladder of the company when his parents had died. It had been nothing for Joe to slip Francis into that spot.

"I'll get in contact with the lawyer who's card is in here, and we will work all of this out."

"Nothing is negotiable."

"That's fine. I'll sign all of it, and Diana will have alimony that will take care of her."

"And your stipulations?"

"I never want to see either of them again. I want no contact. Nothing gets drug up in front of those that I work with."

"Of course, no one needs to know."

"Get out." William started to look at the papers again.

Joe felt a rush of victory as he pulled Spencer out of the office. Spencer was silent, which Joe wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He tried to figure that out as they walked down to the Jeep. Spencer started to drink the coffee as he got settled. He buckled up as soon as he was down, which was normal for him.

"Do you really want to do what you told William that you did?" Spencer asked.

"Yes, Spencer. I don't see how it's going to be different than things are now. You are still going to go home to your mother, and when she's like she was this morning, you are to come over to me."

"What about money?"

"I was given a substantial trust when I turned twenty-five. The Navy got me all of the degrees that I will ever need. I have no use for a lot of money that I have. Feeding you isn't going to give me issues at all. I'll take you to the doctor when you need it. I'll be a better guardian than your father has been and help you when your mother fails because of her issues."

"And you won't take me from her?"

"Not unless there is no other choice." Joe didn't tell him that he thought that the no other choice thing probably wasn't going to be long from then. Everything was going to go to a head at some point, and Spencer was going to have to be taken from her for his own sake even though he was not going to think that.

"Okay." Spencer looked out of the side of the Jeep as Joe turned them toward home. "Thank you."

"You are welcome."


	2. Chapter 2

## Chapter 2

###  _October 1993_

Spencer realized his issue as soon as he got halfway across the football field. He could feel the eyes on him. Spencer sped up but stopped when he saw the three of the tight ends for the football team there in front of him. He stopped and turned his head to the left and the right, seeing most of the rest of the team closing in on him. The few members of the team that he couldn't see had to be behind him. There was no way for him to get away as it was right now. It was going to be horrible, but whatever it was, Spencer could slip away. No one had really bothered him after Joe started to drop him off and pick him up from school. He had introduced himself as Spencer's uncle Joe who was back in the area after years away in the military.

Today though, Spencer has stayed late for a science project with another group of seniors in the science track. One of them had offered him a ride home, but he had declined. He needed to move around. It had only been a year of doing the training with Joe to get him into shape and into what he needed to get away from the bullies in his life, but he was already much more agile.

Spencer stopped in his tracks and took in the fact that there was more than the football team in the area. There were the cheerleaders and those who rode their coattails to not be picked on. Spencer saw Alexa Lisbon and Harper Hillman, and he knew precisely what had gone on. Harper hadn't been able to lure him into the room and make fun of him, and Alexa hadn't been able to get him behind the field house a week before. Spencer had been shocked when Alexa had talked to him at all, but it wasn't enough for him to get lured into something that was so obviously a trap. He just hadn't expected this.

The sound of pounding feet behind him had Spencer sidestepping at the last second. The linebacker who rushed past him had a look of shock on his face. He crashed into one of the tight ends. Spencer turned around in a circle, looking at every single person who was there and memorizing their names. Joe would want every single one of them. Spencer knew that he wasn't going to getaway. There were too many of them, so he just planned on making as much attention as possible.

"FIRE!" Spencer yelled just a second before someone finally grabbed him. He fought back, screaming as he did. Someone covered his mouth with a hand, and Spencer waited for them to press it in before he bit them. The person screamed and jerked his hand away. The hold on him shifted until they had his arms behind him, their arms tucked behind his and holding him so that he could easily hurt himself if he fought too much. Spencer didn't care about that.

"Shut him up!" someone else yelled.

Spencer felt his shirt being ripped off, and then it was balled up and shoved into his mouth, the long sleeves used to tie around the back of his head. His glasses were jerked from his face so he would have trouble seeing. The only issue was that Joe had been teaching him a little of fighting like that. Reacting to movements from shapes instead of defined ones. His body already ached a little from how roughly his shirt was jerked off of him. He still had his T-shirt on, so that was a good thing.

Kicking up a fuss, Spencer made it hard as hell for the people around him to strip him naked. He knew what their goal was, but Spencer's goal was very different. He knew exactly who was in the school at the moment. Shoes and socks were next. Spencer fought so hard when they went for his pants that he heard his T-Shirt rip and then blood on his lip when he was punched.

"What in the tarnation is going on here?" a voice called out.

Spencer held in the smile he wanted to let out as he was dropped like a hot coal. He felt his breath leave him at that, and the people around him started to walk away. There were also the sounds of a lot of feet running away. Probably the cheerleaders and the rest of the spectators.

"Spencer?" a soft female voice called out. That was Miss Samuel, who was the new AP biology teacher. A hand touched him, and Spencer flinched away from it, ready to strike out and defend himself now that he had his arms.

"He attacked us."

"So you removed his shoes, socks, T-shirt, and his pants?" Miss Samuel asked as she worked the shirt from Spencer's mouth with gentle hands. "He gagged himself with the shirt that he was wearing today that is now ripped."

"Ripped like it was taken off of him," someone else said, and Spencer didn't recognize their voice.

"He was already like that."

"So the scratch marks on his skin just appeared in places, and the blood on your hands is not his?"

Spencer looked at Miss Samuel, and then he felt his glasses being pressed into his hand. He opened them up and put them on. They were not broken.

"They were on underneath your socks and pants," the one voice said.

Spencer looked to see that it was the baseball coach, and the advanced psychical education class teacher. Spencer hadn't really had any interaction with him. He looked like he was pissed though, but not at Spencer.

"Into the school," the vice-principal said as he arrived. There was a cheerleader with him. He must have caught her.

Spencer saw that no one else was around. The others had run like the cowards they were. Spencer wondered just what was going to happen to all of them.

"Spencer, do you want me to call Mister Nutter or your mother?" the vice principal

"Mister Nutter." Spencer didn't want his mother to see him like this. She would freak out.

"Who is Mister Nutter?" Miss Samuel asked.

"William signed over custody of me to him to help mom with raising me," Spencer said. It was the same line that he used every single time a teacher asked him. Miss Samuel, at least let it go.

"I'll get the nurse, she's on hand since there was track practice tonight," Miss Samuel said.

Spencer nodded. He needed more than a nurse. Now that the adrenaline was coming down off of him, Spencer could feel the aches, and he was pretty sure that he had possibly strained a muscle in his shoulder. His arm was killing him, and he couldn't move it. Still, it would stop the bleeding. That at least was one good goal of it all.

"Can you walk?" the vice-principal asked.

"Yes," Spencer stood up and tested his legs. They were sore from kicking at people and connecting with a few. He was sure that his feet had left prints on a lot of people. The fight as it were was a near blur in his brain. He had been more about escaping than anything else.

"Spencer?" Joe called out from a distance away. Joe was walking toward them as fast as he could, a look of confusion on his face.

Spencer looked around to see the rest of the teachers who had come down at the commotion were gone as well as the team. It was just Spencer, Miss Samuel, and the vice-principal.

"Sir, how can we help you?" Miss Samuel asked after Joe stopped just a few feet from Spencer.

"Mister Nutter, we are just now getting to what was going on here."

"Just getting to it? He's half-naked, and I know for a fact that Spencer hates being on display. His lip is split, and he's covered in cuts."

"Sir," Spencer said.

Joe turned to look at him, and he nodded his head and waved for Spencer to start to walk toward the school.

"We were just getting ready to call you."

"And the cops, I hope. He was assaulted."

"There is no reason to involve the cops," the vice-principal said.

"Hmm." Joe didn't say anything else, but he walked with Spencer toward the school. Spencer stopped at a bench to sit down to get his pants back on. "I want pictures taken before that, Spencer. We can get you a blanket of some kind to cover up with."

"Sure." Spencer knew that this wasn't going to get swept under the rug. He stood up again and hissed as it moved his shoulder. Joe was on him in a second, touching his arms softly. He pressed with a little pressure at a point, and Spencer felt nothing but pain. He was pretty sure that he cried out, but Joe just cupped the side of his face and told him to breathe.

"His shoulder is dislocated. Tell me how that happens on the school campus at night when he should be safe to walk home."

No one said anything.

Spencer saw that they were nearing the office, and as they turned the corner, he saw that the team was sitting on the ground with their backs against the wall. The three that had been right around Spencer were not visible. They had to be inside. Spencer put his head up and walked without shame into the office. The baseball coach was there with a soft but warm blanket, and he handed it to Joe before he stepped back. He cleared his throat, and Joe looked at him.

"I have the camera we use for school events here, as well." The coach held up the camera.

"Good. I want pictures taken while we wait for the cops to arrive. I am sure that they want their own pictures, but I want copies as well."

"There is no need to involve the cops," the vice-principal said again.

"Really? How would you feel if it was your child out there. Twelve and being stripped on a football field with at least the football team out there. Given the kids that I saw booking it away from there, I would say more than that. He's a child. He might be a senior in high school, but he's underage, and most of the people in that hall are eighteen. Tell me how it's not a crime for them to strip a child naked and tie them to a goalpost."

There was a strange look on the vice principal's face at that. Spencer had told him all about it. It was a thing that the football team did on a regular basis during the season. Usually, it was people who were in the senior class and, therefore, seventeen or eighteen. Spencer wasn't that old, though, and it was going to be hell to get Joe not to press charges.

"Are you calling the cops, or am I?"

"Dial nine for an outside line," the coach said.

"Dale."

"There is no way to keep this under wraps. I'm sure that Spencer has the name of every single kid that was there. I heard him telling you about the kids who skipped the last required meeting for the seniors. They are going to go to the cops when they leave here. How the hell will that look if we try and cover this up? Caltech wants that boy like he's the messiah. What would they do to pressure things to make sure that Spencer goes there? You have a choice between stepping up and actually doing something about this and not doing anything. None of my boys were there. I made sure that over the years they have known if they take part in the stupid ritual that the football team does and I hear of it, they are off the baseball team. In fact, it was one of my students who came and got me where I was running some drills for the track team since the assistant coach is out sick. That's how I got there even though I was on the other side of the school. They came to get me." The coach turned to Spencer and looked at him. "Do you want me to take the pictures and get them printed off while Mister Nutter talks to everyone else?"

Spencer looked at Joe, who nodded. Spencer looked at the coach and nodded, but he looked at Miss Samuel with a plea in his eye. He was in pain, and he didn't want to have to talk at the moment. Miss Samuel pressed a hand to Spencer's back, between his shoulder blades to get him to move. Spencer looked back at Joe as he left the office and was taken to the staff room where he took off the blanket and let pictures be taken of him. The coach sat down at the computer to print them off as soon as he was done. Spencer wrapped the blanket around himself even tighter, it was hard with only one hand that worked well. Still, he could endure until he was allowed to be taken to the hospital.

"Look, he attacked us," the captain of the football team said.

One of the officers that was in the office with the main three people who attacked Spencer looked at Spencer. The vice principal was there as well and Joe.

"You are telling me that he attacked you. You stripped him half-naked and gagged him because he attacked you?"

All three of the boys just shut their mouths.

"He's a troublemaker," someone else said.

Spencer looked to see that it was a man who looked like the captain of the football team. There were three sets of parents.

"His mother is a freak," the captain said.

"My mother has a disease, you idiot. I've never even said two words to you. I'm twelve years old and half your size. Tell me again how I am a threat to you while I was walking across the football field to go home, and I didn't even know you were there until your team surrounded me to cage me in."

"Okay, I think I had better talk to you alone, Spencer," the first cop said.

"And me," Joe said.

"Of course, Sir. I just meant not with the team around. My fellow officers here will take care of that part, and we will see what is going on."

"Would you like to see my injuries?" Spencer asked.

"What?" the officer asked.

"I figured that you guys would want to see them so that they can ask the right questions."

"Sure." The officer looked at his two fellow cops and then back at Spencer. He hissed as soon as he saw Spencer's cuts.

"His shoulder is dislocated as well," Joe said.

"How about we take him to the hospital, and I'll get his statement there."

"I'm not letting him go alone, and my vehicle is here."

"Why don't I drop your vehicle there?" The coach asked.

Joe handed over his keys and nodded at him.

"I'll have my wife pick me up and drop me back here to take care of my car. I'll do it after I give my statement."

Spencer kept his mouth shut until they were in the car. He started to talk. The cop let him ride in the front seat, and Joe went in the back.

"Why didn't you try and run?"

"I had to make sure I was going to get out of there before I did that. I was surrounded, and it wouldn't have been hard for two of them to close ranks to make sure that I was cut off, and I could have been hurt more."

"That's very tactical for a kid who is in high school at twelve and loves science."

Spencer glared at the cop as they pulled into the ambulance entrance. A female nurse was waiting with a wheelchair for them. Spencer glared at the man again.

"My partner called it in. That is Susie, she's one of the nicest ER nurses here, and she treats everyone like they are special. She's going to treat you just fine until the pediatrics doctor gets there. He's on-call tonight."

"Okay." Spencer looked behind him at Joe, and he waited for the man to be let out of the back of the police car before he got out. Joe led him over to the wheelchair, and the look on Susie's face as she watched the blanket slip some, said that she was pissed. Spencer could understand that. No one wanted to see a kid look like that.

"You are going to charge them correctly, right?" Joe asked.

"What do you mean?"

"They are adults who stripped a child."

The officer's face was blank with shock. He didn't even follow Spencer as he was wheeled into the ER.

It was hours before Spencer was released from the ER. He was tired from the pain that was finally dulled when they made sure that he wasn't bleeding internally. His arm was in a sling after it had been put back into its socket. The pain was a fresh memory in his mind, but it had been easy to push it away to be strong in the hospital. Joe took him home to his place even though it was the middle of the night. He pushed Spencer down onto the couch and wandered to the kitchen. He came back with food and a glass of water as well as the pills that Spencer had been given for his shoulder and antibiotics, given how deep some of the scratches were.

"The boys were all processed and checked for your skin under their nails. They aren't going to get away with this. Though I think that your giving the name of every single teenager who was there and watched it happen was really great." Joe sat down beside Spencer on the couch, a sandwich in his hand.

"I think they tried to do it last week when Alexa tried to get me to the area behind the field house. Or Harper when she tried to get me into a room with a blindfold on."

"I heard that while I was working on your paperwork. This is going to make the news, you know that, right?" Joe sounded somber.

Spencer wasn't sure how he felt about that. About having this in the papers. Spencer was underage, so his name wasn't going to be printed, but it wasn't like it was going to stop the rumors from spreading.

"They were going to tie me to a goalpost and leave me. I don't give a shit what happens to them." Spencer pressed his lips together at the curse word that slipped from his lips. He was still under the effects of the drugs he had been given at the hospital to help with his pain after his shoulder had been popped back into place.

"I'd tell you language, but you don't use those words most of the time. I agree that they deserve what happens to them. They weren't thinking when they did it, but someone did. Someone did, and they didn't say a word. They are just lucky that no one took a picture with a camera. I heard, though, that you gave more than a few of the bruises that were going to need to be checked to make sure you didn't cause internal bleeding."

"I kept on kicking. They had my arms pinned, but the guy behind me didn't have my legs, and they were trying to get me naked so they couldn't hold my legs. I was hoping I would get their teeth or face. Then they wouldn't look like Gods anymore." Spencer finished off the food and took the pills that he was handed. The glass of water was finished off, and Spencer just felt sleepy. He closed his eyes and leaned back into the couch.

A blanket settled over Spencer, and he just huddled under it. He was cold inside, and he figured that it was shock of some kind. Joe knew that to look for, and Joe wasn't going to let anything happen to him. He could sleep safe and get better.

###  _December 1993_

Spencer looked around the area they were driving to. Joe had pulled him out of the house earlier than usual for his morning run, and they did a shorter session with him. Spencer was just full of energy after the lunch that they had eaten out at the pizza joint that Joe liked to order from.

"Where are we going?" Spencer asked.

"Somewhere special."

Spencer looked around the area of town that they were in. Vegas had few areas that Spencer had not combed while he was riding the bus to get around. Spencer had been to his area once but had never gone back. There was nothing there that had interested him at the time. Yet, Joe pulled up in front of an area that had a large front, but there was nothing but a logo there. Spencer had never really paid any attention to it.

"What is this place?"

"Gun range."

Spencer swallowed as he looked at the case that Joe grabbed from the back and set on the front seat. Spencer knew it. It was Joe's portable gun safe. It wasn't that heavy, but it was hardened plastic that held at least two guns given the size of it.

"I'm going to do some shooting. I thought you might like to watch a little and maybe try a few shots. You've seemed interested in learning about the history of guns."

"It's very interesting, and the closest I've been to guns is when the cops were there at the school and then the hospital."

"You are also very antsy with waiting on the results of your ACT."

Spencer swallowed because he hadn't told Joe the other test that he had taken. He had told him he was doing a practice run on the ACT the weekend before actually taking the ACT. He hadn't wanted to get Joe's hopes up as he had been thinking harder and harder about what he wanted to do with his life. He was too young to take the ASVAB really, but since it was given while in high school before college and Spencer was going to Caltech in the fall, it had been easy to get in to take the test. He might have to take it again before he turned eighteen if he wanted to go that route after a few years of thinking about it, but that was okay.

Joe didn't say anything else as he walked into the gun range. Spencer could hear the muffled sounds of shots being fired deeper inside, but he didn't care about that. He was looking at the guns that were in cases in front of him. William and his mother were pacifists. Spencer had thought that he would be one as well. Still, he had been exposed to Joe and too much of the military history as he read through all of the books in his house to really feel like peace was the option when dealing with the evils of the world.

"Eh, this is Spencer, huh?" the man behind the counter asked.

"Yes. Do you have the paperwork?"

Joe said little else as the clipboard was handed over and then a smaller case when Joe handed it back. Money exchanged hands, and Spencer wondered what was in the case.

"Here you go," the man said as he handed Spencer a set of what looked like headphones.

"Silencers," Joe said as he grabbed a second, larger set that was handed over.

Spencer watched for nearly an hour as Joe set up targets and took them out. Despite being retired, every single paper target was dead by the time that it was called back. They were in a smaller range that Spencer was pretty sure should be rented out to other people as well, but no one else joined them.

"Did you want to try?" Joe asked.

"What?" Spencer asked. He stood up from the bench that he was sitting at in the back of the room. Joe waved him forward, and Spencer tried not to rush forward. Joe opened the second case, and Spencer looked at the gun inside. It was smaller than the others that Joe had but looked just as deadly.

"This is a gun that's mainly for slight women who get guns for personal protection. It works well for teenagers as well."

"I'm not a teenager, not yet. Not for another year."

"Ah, that might be, but you are more than old enough to learn to shoot. Some kids go out with shotguns when they are half of your age and learn to hunt. You'll do fine with this. If you want to learn, we can start now, and then I'll let you fire off a few rounds before we head out again."

"Um." Spencer swallowed. If he was going to join the military like Joe, he was going to have to learn to shoot guns. He hadn't been sure how to ask Joe about that, though. "Yes, please, Sir."

"Good. Let's start at the beginning." Joe closed both cases. Sealing each gun inside and set them to the side.

Two hours later, Spencer felt tired even though all he had been doing was learning about guns and how to care for them. The best stances to stand in given his current size, and getting a few shots off as well as how to learn to correct himself on them.

"So, how do you feel?" Joe asked as he slipped the case with his guns into the netting at the back.

"Tired. Hungry."

"You are always hungry." Joe's smile on his face was the same soft one that he always god.

"I know that I am. I'm a growing boy." Spencer buckled into the harness of the Jeep and waited for Joe to get the vehicle on so they could leave.

"How about your worry about your ACT test?"

"It's still there but nearly as bad as it had been."

"Good. We have a dinner meeting to go to."

"Meeting?" Spencer wondered what kind of meeting would happen on a Saturday and with Spencer in tow.

"Yes," Joe said nothing else.

Spencer knew that Joe was probably just thinking about what they needed to do.

Life had been crazy since October. Diana had never figured out what had happened to Spencer. When he had come home the next morning, she had been lost in past memory and didn't even seem to realize that Spencer's face was bruised up from being punched. Spencer had never felt as gutted as he had in that moment. He had been gone all night, and his mother hadn't cared. Since then, Spencer had been spending as much time with Joe as he could get away with while making sure that his mother was stable. She was working more than usual and gone at college, so it wasn't that big of a deal, really. She never knew when he wasn't home when she was gone. Joe cooked enough for Spencer to make sure there was a plate of food in the fridge for Diana when she got home from the college.

Spencer loved his mother, and he wanted to be the best son for her, but lately, she had been getting worse, and she was mistaking him for her students more than anything else.

Joe stopped the Jeep in front of a greasy spoon diner that was at the edge of one of the suburbs of Vegas. He knew that he had never eaten there before, but he wasn't shocked about that. Joe took him a lot of places that were not the norm for him. Normal for him before Joe was whatever was closest to home.

The man in a suit in a corner booth was totally out of place, and Spencer wasn't sure who he was. Spencer stepped closer to Joe, tucking into his side, always on the side that the can wasn't. While that was Joe's injured leg, it was better that Spencer not kick the cane out from under him.

"Leroy," Joe said as he settled into the booth opposite the man in the suit. Spencer slipped in after he was all the way inside.

"Joe. You must be Spencer. I hear a lot of good things about you. My name is Leroy. I'm the prosecutor who is handling the case for what happened at the school."

"Oh." Spencer felt his stomach start to churn. While he had understood what Joe had been talking about with the whole adult and looking at him naked thing, he hadn't really thought that much about it until it had made the news. "Why do you want to meet with me?"

"The opposition is getting ready to call you to subpoena you as a witness. I wanted to meet with you to see how you would handle being on the stand. We have your injuries and the testimony of some of your classmates to corroborate what you gave as your statement. I don't need you to make my case. So I need to figure out what you know that might make them think that you are going to help them."

"Probably trying to push me as a fragile genius who didn't understand that they were playing and then when I got physical they were forced to as well. I mean, I had chafe marks on my face from my own shirt that they gagged with me. It's all evidence at this point. Who knows what their high price lawyers think they can get from me."

Leroy looked at Spencer like he wasn't sure exactly what he should do with him.

"You see what kinds of issues I have? This kid has read his biological father's law books. He might not have the practical knowledge to understand everything that he read, but he's got enough in his brain that he knows that they are going down."

"Every single person who was underage has already settled out of court for community service that will take them all of the rest of their school years to finish. The football team was disbanded, and there is a lot of talk of not letting it come back next year until they can get things under control as far as this stupid ritual."

"The ones who were eighteen are fighting it though, aren't they?"

"They don't want to be labeled as sex offenders for the rest of their life, and they are fighting it. This kind of hazing is not something my office is willing to keep on allowing to happen. So we are going to crack down on it now. We wouldn't really have an issue if it was seventeen years olds, but Spencer here has recently turned twelve. The anger that was displayed that night, the wounds he suffered. We want to make sure that at least the kids at that school think twice before doing something like that again. I know from the statements of the kids that mostly it's seniors that have it done to them, but on occasion, they have gone after who they call the more annoying kids at the school."

"I have no clue, Sir. It's my second year at high school. I know that last year, it was the scrawniest senior that it happened to. Though I think they might have been eyeing me up for this for a while."

"Yes. I have the statement of a few of the kids that stated that you were attempted to be lured somewhere twice before. Do you want to take the stand?"

Spencer looked at Joe, who gave him the look that it was up to him.

"Yes."

###  _June 1994_

Joe heard the crashing from next door even over the TV. He jumped up and grabbed his cane before walking as fast as he could toward the door. He grabbed his cordless house phone as well. His newest one had enough range that as long as he stayed in the living room of the Reid house, he could easily call anyone.

"MOM! You're hurting me!" Spencer screamed.

Joe dialed the number that he hadn't wanted to dial until Spencer was older.

"Bennington, Doctor Norman speaking."

"Doctor Norman, this is Joe Nutter. I'm afraid that I might have to commit Diana Reid a little earlier than we thought."

"I'll come out with two of my assistants as soon as possible. What about young Spencer's custody?"

The sound of scratching was easy to hear even over the tinny connection of the phone. Joe stopped at the door to Spencer's house and found that the door was locked. He cursed and started to knock on it.

"I'll figure that out. I already have a partial from the father. It won't be hard to get the courts to give me full custody."

"And the payment for her stay here will be taken care of?"

"Yes." Joe swallowed as he heard Spencer cry out. "I need to go."

Joe tossed the phone down onto the ground and gritted his teeth as he balanced himself on his bad leg and kicked out with his foot. His sturdy boots made it so that he wasn't that hurt as the door bust open. Thankfully only the standard lock had been thrown and not the deadbolt.

Not knowing what to expect, Joe stopped to look around. He didn't need to get in the way of Diana if she had a weapon without knowing what was coming. However, what he saw was Spencer on the ground, and Diana wasn't in sight anymore. Spencer was cradling his arm to his chest. The same one that had been dislocated by the football team. However, even from that distance, Joe could see the swelling in it.

"Where is she?" Joe asked.

"In the kitchen."

"Come here."

"She's not well, Joe. I can't leave her. I don't know what she will do if she can't find me."

Joe didn't say that he was worried about what she would do if she did find him. He just sighed and slipped inside. He kept one of his eyes on the kitchen at all times as he helped Spencer stand up. Joe put himself between Spencer and the rest of the house as he heard Diana start to move around in the other room.

"No!" Spencer said, trying to get away from Joe.

Joe reached out and grabbed the back of Spencer's shirt and tugged him back harder than he usually would, but he got Spencer spun around and squatted, tipping Spencer over his shoulder, and he lifted. Spencer started to scream and wiggle just as Joe got him all the way up. Joe was afraid of Diana rushing him. His leg wasn't liking carrying Spencer's weight, which was more than Joe figured he would be. It seemed that the muscles that Spencer had been putting on slowly were adding more to his weight.

"MOM!" Spencer was yelling. Joe could hear the crying, and he knew that Spencer had tears in his eyes. He didn't care, though.

As soon as they crossed the threshold for the door, Spencer seemed to slump down into Joe's body. He stopped fighting and wiggling to get away. Joe just hoped that Diana didn't follow them. He got Spencer inside of the house and dropped him onto the couch. Joe wasn't sure what to expect from him. Spencer had never acted like this, but then Spencer hadn't been in a screaming match with his mother like he had been just moments before.

Joe had no clue how long it was going to take for Doctor Norman and his two people to get there, but Joe shut and locked the front door so that Diana couldn't get inside.

"Spencer, let me see your arm."

Spencer curled into himself and protected his arm from Joe, even being able to see it. Joe left him to that. He wasn't in that much pain if he was able to do that. Joe looked out the window as he debated calling the cops. It would be better to have it all documented in the legal way to make sure that Joe was able to get custody. Spencer wasn't going to like it, but Joe really didn't care about that.

Diana had been getting worse, and Joe couldn't say that it wasn't his fault. Spencer had a life that wasn't being at his mother's beck and call all the time. He wasn't wrapped around her finger as much as he used to be. Joe was pretty sure that Spencer was the reason that Diana had been able to stay as sane seeming as she had been. From what little Spencer told him about things at home, work was not going well for Diana.

Half an hour later, Joe heard the yelling as Doctor Norman arrived at the Reid house.

"Ma'am, step back," a voice called out loudly.

Joe unlocked and opened the door to the house. He saw that there were cops there. He sighed as he saw that one of them was the cop that had been there for the whole dust-up at the school. Officer Dusty was looking at Diana.

"HE TOOK MY SON!" Diana yelled as she took off running at Joe.

Officer Dusty turned to look at who it was. The look on the man's face was very much one of resignation.

The two attendants with Doctor Norman caught Diana as she ran at Joe.

"We will have her in a seventy-two-hour psych hold at Bennington. I'm sure that I am going to find her unfit to raise her son."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Doctor Norman." Officer Dusty waved for the other man with him to go into the Reid house as he turned to head toward Joe.

"Mister Nutter."

"Officer."

"Why does she think that you took her son, and does she have a son?"

"She does have a son. I'm assuming that Doctor Norman called you for backup?"

"It's standard when he's taking possession of anyone with an extremely paranoid disorder. We brought tasers with us instead of standard guns."

"Yes, she does have a son, and yes, I do have possession of him. However, she agreed to it when her husband gave up rights."

"Spencer isn't going to ever catch a break, is he?" Dusty asked.

"He's not happy right now as I took him from the house. Do we want to have him taken into the hospital in your cruiser?"

"He's injured again?"

"She did something to his arm. That's when I removed him and called Doctor Norman. I've been working on getting her paperwork taken in for an involuntary psych hold. I've worried about Spencer, but she's not injured him in a while."

"In a while?" Dusty asked as he crossed the threshold of the house.

Spencer was still curled on the couch, and his body was shaking in sobs. Joe felt his heart break a little. He knew that Spencer would have kept on living with this until he could commit his mother when he turned eighteen. Joe had gone around and had her labeled a threat to her son, she was never going to get custody again. Especially since Spencer was going to the hospital to get treatment for whatever had happened to his arm.

"He starts college in the fall. Caltech. Perfect ACT score. It's the college that he wanted. I think his arm is injured. It was swollen, and he hadn't let me look at it. I got him out of the house, and I wasn't the most gentle with carrying him out."

"What's the chances of him admitting that his mother did that?"

"Slim. He won't lie and tell that someone else did it, he just won't answer." Joe watched as Dusty walked over to Spencer just ignored him.

"Do you want to carry him?"

"Sure. Let's get him into the backseat of the patrol car, and I'll follow you in the Jeep."

"Sure."

* * *

Joe was pretty sure that as angry as Spencer was at the moment, it wasn't nearly as bad as it was going to be once they got home.

None of Spencer's aunts or uncles had stepped forward to claim custody of Spencer or even their sister. The Reids Joe could understand on at least the Diana side by that they had not stepped up to even claim Spencer at all spoke of something that was just like cancer in that family.

Custody of Spencer had been awarded to Joe with little fanfare, and it seemed that it had pushed already into moody teenage years. Outside of "Yes, Sir" or "No, Sir" Spencer hadn't willingly spoken to Joe since Joe had removed him from his mother's house after she had put a stress fracture into his arm. It was healing well. The insurance that Spencer had with his mother was fully transitioned to Joe's as the adoption papers had been signed nearly as soon as Joe was awarded custody.

"Spencer," Joe said as he stopped outside of Spencer's bedroom door. The door was locked, which Joe didn't like, but he agreed that Spencer needed privacy after not really having any. The lock on Spencer's bedroom door had been broken to where it couldn't be locked, even the bathrooms in the house had broken locks. There was no place for Spencer to get privacy. "Dinner is ready!"

Spencer never failed to appear for dinner, even if he didn't speak while they were eating. Spencer read a book or three while eating, depending on how much concentration it took for Spencer to eat dinner.

Joe walked back down to the first floor of the house and dished out dinner. He knew that Spencer was hurt, and he was healing. He wasn't acting willfully against Joe in any fashion. He did everything that Joe asked him to. He ran every single morning, arm in the brace to make sure that it healed well. The more intense training was impossible, and even yoga was at the moment. Spencer never cared, though. He got up and went running without Joe having to tell him a single thing.

A moody teenager was not something that Joe had signed up for. Even if he had adopted Spencer. The courts had tried to get in contact with William Reid, but the man had told them that he wanted nothing to do with his ex-wife and even more than nothing to do with his biological child. The lady who was handling the case on the child protective services side was mystified by how little William cared for his son.

Joe wondered exactly when Spencer was going to forgive him, but he was sure that it was going to be a while. Spencer was a kid, even if he was going to college. He was hurting right now at being ripped away from the only parent that he had that he loved and trusted. His mother was everything to him.

"Thank you, Sir," Spencer said as he sat down at the table with a book.

It was something more than just the simple two sentences he had been getting. It was a start.


	3. Chapter 3

## Chapter 3

###  _August 1994_

Spencer paused on the steps leading down onto the first floor of the house; he could smell breakfast being cooked. He knew that things had not been easy on Joe, but how much the man had pushed for doing everything that made Spencer happy with the move to Pasadena, Spencer felt like shit for keeping the man at a distance. Spencer had three weeks until school started, and the local high schools were going back sooner than that. It felt strange not to have to go back to high school. Spencer had two things in his hands. One was the paperwork for getting Spencer into a Junior Navy ROTC at a high school campus close to Caltech next year. The second was his score for the ASVAB. When the ACT scores had come in, Spencer had hidden the ASVAB so that Joe wouldn't see them. In the months since his mother had been put into Bennington, Spencer had been doing a lot of thinking since they had moved to Pasadena. He wasn't angry anymore. He was upset that his mother was where she was, but Spencer wouldn't change where she was because it would help her.

Joe had made sure that Diana was taken care of. He shouldered the burden of her care with money that he could spend on a million other things just to make sure that she was as healthy as she could be. Bennington was one of the places that Spencer had been looking at to put her into when the time came when Spencer turned eighteen. It was said to be the best in the area, but that didn't always mean that it was. Spencer had found the research in Joe's office after the move that showed where he had done a lot of digging into it all.

Making himself move, Spencer finally left the stairs. Joe had the table set with a cup of coffee for him and a cup of tea for Spencer. Coffee wasn’t a treat anymore for Spencer since he had started into the early stages of puberty. It wasn't always the best for him to drink too much caffeine in one go. So tea had become a standard. There was iced tea in the fridge, no sugar in it as Joe didn't like sugar in his tea. Spencer had gotten used to drinking it that way.

"It's not like you to hover on stairs or in the kitchen door," Joe said from where he was doing something at the stove, his back fully to Spencer.

It was times like that when Spencer remembered precisely what Joe had done for a living. Yet Joe had never hurt him. He used his strength to protect Spencer, never hurt him.

"I want to join Junior Navy ROTC at the local high school next year," Spencer blurted after a silence of nearly two minutes since Joe had spoken.

Joe said nothing until he flicked off the gas burner on the stove and lifted the pan of eggs up and off of the fire. He set the pan down on a cold burner and gave them a stir before letting them sit to finish cooking. He turned around and looked at Spencer with a raised eyebrow. Over the summer, after Spencer's arm had healed up to where he could do more, Joe had gladly stepped up Spencer's physical training, and Spencer knew that ROTC was going to be different, but he wanted it. Joe had enough time to start to adapt it to what Spencer would be doing.

"And how is that possible?"

"I called the school, and they have a program where they take in kids who are home-schooled. The instructor agreed that it would be easy to adapt my form to fit that."

"That's why your classes are all scheduled like they are for this year."

"Yes, Sir." Spencer had done that on purpose, whether he actually joined the Junior ROTC or not. It would also allow him to roughly keep the same schedule that he had done while in high school for the years that followed.

"Then you'll what? Join ROTC at the Caltech campus when you get old enough?"

"I talked to my adviser. Since it's only a month before I turn seventeen when the time comes, I'll easily be able to join with a waiver signed by you and the ROTC instructor on Caltech campus and not have to delay a year. That will also allow me to do the shortened three year set of classes for it, and I won't have to change my projected schedule for obtaining my final degree."

"Really? I thought that some of your later classes were only afternoon ones."

"That was before I changed them. I need to get a few of the classes that have been held as the last class of the day done before I start ROTC."

"Changed them?" Joe asked. He was still looking at Spencer impassively, but there was interest in his eyes. There always was when Spencer was talking about what he wanted to do.

"Caltech has recently added a few new tracks and one of them is in criminal justice to be taken in concert with those who want to go into analyst fields and the like in law enforcement. I'm going to get my math doctorate and then one in bioenvironmental engineering and finally in criminal justice leadership and management. My two bachelors are going to be in chemistry and criminal psychology."

"That's a lot of changes."

Spencer nodded his head. Joe hadn't cared what Spencer got his degrees in. The man had just wanted Spencer happy. That and Spencer being safe were the only things that he wanted for Spencer. That safe thing was going to change a little bit when Spencer finally told him what he wanted to do.

"Yes, Sir. It's a lot, but I want it."

"I'll do anything for you. You know that."

"I know. I'll finish up ROTC on the campus, and then I'll be commissioned as an officer in the Navy before I try my luck at getting that job that I want."

"Which is?" Joe's face was impassive. He had the best poker face in the world, and Spencer wanted to one day have a poker face like that. He wanted to be able to look someone in the eye and lie if he needed to, and they never knew it. He didn't want to hurt them with the lies but save people. Well, depending on who it was, he might hurt them after he lied to them.

"SEAL officer, if I am lucky enough."

"I see. You think you can do it?"

"My mom said I could do anything that I put my mind to as long as I had the drive to do it. Junior ROTC will tell me if I have it. If I don't have it, I can easily find another job that the degrees will help me with. I'm sure the CIA or the FBI would snatch me up as soon as possible. It's not like a genius of my level can't do well in those kinds of fields. It's about things outside of my control, but you won't let me fail at anything that you know that I can get. Do you think I can do it?"

"I do."

Those simple words had tears forming in Spencer's. He rushed across the room and plowed into Joe. Wrapping his arms around him, Spencer didn't let go as he hugged him. One of Joe's hands settled on Spencer's head and the other on his back rubbing.

"Your mother won't like it. You are joining the people that she fears, even if she knows on a base level that her disease can't let her understand that they are not after her and that they have never been after you."

"I can't live my life for her anymore. I didn't...I am sorry."

"I know you are, Spencer, but I know that you also have guilt inside of you."

Spencer pulled out of the hug and looked up at Joe. He felt his heart quicken at the words. Spencer didn't understand how Joe knew that. No one else understood Spencer at all.

"I've been talking with Doctor Norman, and he heard you after your mother went to sleep for the evening on your last visit with her before we moved here. How you were sorry that you couldn't be there for her when she needed you."

"I-" Spencer swallowed and shook his head. He could feel the tears prickling his eyes, and he tried to hold them back. Men didn't cry, and Spencer was a man.

"You were doing what you needed not to have to deal with the bullies anymore, and it pulled you away from her, but Spencer, no matter when it happened. Then or now, when you were at college, you would have pulled away from her. It just happened faster now, and she's better off where she is. Her medication wasn't doing her any good with everything that was going on. I'm her guardian according to all legal ways until you turn eighteen. I know how many times you both had them changed until all of them had been used, and none of them were keeping her disillusions under control. She hurt you in a way that she would never forgive herself for, and one day, when she's less hurt about it all, she'll understand that, but you have got to get rid of that guilt. You are a child."

"Yes, Sir." Spencer knew everything that Joe said was correct, but it would take a while for him to believe it. Logic won, but when it came to emotions, it was hard.

"So that's a year from now. Why are you bringing it up now?"

"I need eye surgery to get rid of my glasses. The issue that I have has been stable since I was given the glasses, and it's an issue that is correctable with a simple surgery as it's a stable issue. Mom and William didn't do it because they saw no need to. I might have to have a simple surgery when my eyes are fully stable, but this issue isn't one that will change as much when I get older. Since the issue is more an incorrect issue around the eye, the doctor thought that a simple surgery would fix it all when I was a child. I'm still growing, so he thinks that it would still do it when I get it now."

"That's what you were talking to him about when I went to the bathroom at your appointment before we came here."

"Yes, Sir. I also got the name of the best doctor to do it here. We can get in and see him tomorrow. He gets things done quickly for kids so that I won't have to miss school. I'll have two days of not letting light into my eyes, and then after that, I'll just have to make sure to have things closer to read so I don't strain my eye muscles while they heal. By the time that school starts for me, I'll be fine as long as I don't get punched in the face for at least two months. That's why I want to get it done now. Training in JROTC means that I might have it happen on accident."

"You know that you don't have to lay everything out like this for me, right? I am the adult, and I can do this on my own. It's not like I have a full-time job that makes me need to have a good relaxing evening."

"I know, Sir. I just...Well, I kind of have the habit, and it's hard to break."

"It will serve you well in the officer track in the Navy. Though some might hate you for it."

"It can't really be that worse than high school. At least, though, I'll be roughly the same age as those going into boot camp and everything."

"Yes, that will be a good thing. There will even be those who are younger than you in some things. What about languages?"

"I've already taught myself French and Spanish. I tested out of those at Caltech by passing the exit exams for the hardest classes. So I can take those at any point that I want during my education there and test out of them. I already have a schedule set up for a lot of them over the next few years. I can test out of German, Japanese, and Chinese as well and not have to take them."

"You have everything planned out?" Joe asked.

"Yes. All the way until I graduate ROTC."

"I'll look in the JROTC and the ROTC stuff for you, and then we can go from there. I'll make an appointment with the doctor to see about the surgery, but I'm going to talk to him before we go forward with that."

"Sure."

"So, SEAL?" Joe asked. He waved Spencer to the table and grabbed the plate of eggs.

Spencer watched as he split them in half, and the potatoes and bacon were added to the table for them to get what they wanted. There were biscuits as well that had been with the rest in the oven to stay warm. Spencer grabbed a biscuit and broke it in half to add butter to it. He was hungry.

"Yes."

"You don't have to do that just for me. I know you are thankful for everything that I have done, even if you were angry for a while. You've already said you are sorry, and I know that you meant it. You don't have to do anything other than be happy with what you want to do for the rest of your life."

"I will be. I am a very happy person, usually."

"So you want it. Why?"

"It's intriguing. I'm slight. Small, but I've seen some of the pictures of the guys from your team over the years. There are a few that have the slighter bone structure, yet they were a SEAL. William thinks that I'll amount to nothing because of the whole separation thing, and there might be a little bit of spite in it. I want to be able to march into his office one day and slam down the whole slew of medals that I got for being one of the best in the world at something that he would hate that I am doing on principle. He hates the military and the bonds that it builds. He has never been loyal to anyone in his life, so he hates those who are."

"There are a lot of people who are like that. We will head out today and get some more things that you are going to need to help get you in shape for ROTC next year, as well as the last of your supplies. We will do a late workout today, afternoon before dinner."

"Yes, Sir."

###  _November 1994_

Joe slipped onto the campus to see where Spencer was. It was his day off of training, and typically, that meant he spent all afternoon at the house doing school work, but the last two weeks, Spencer hadn't come home until after dinner. Spencer had been like a demon the last two months as he had learned more about the military and their training than Joe had been teaching him. Before, when it had just been getting Spencer away from bullies, Joe had gone easy on him. He didn't need to know how to push through getting sick, to work through pain when he did something that hurt him. Still, he needed a day to himself, so on his lightest course load day, Joe let him do what he wanted. Let him be the kid that he was. Spencer didn't have friends like a lot of other students on the campus, yet there had been a few discussions lately that dropped a few names over and over. The main one was Freddie. Joe had no clue who Freddie was or what he did, but he knew that he wanted to meet the man. There was no way that he wasn't an adult. A freshman or maybe even a sophomore or junior. Spencer didn't converse with many seniors, even if they shared a class.

"Hey, do you know Spencer Reid?" Joe asked the first person who seemed like they were a professor that didn't have his head buried in a stack of papers.

"Yes." The professor gave Joe a really weird look.

"Joe Nutter-"

"Spencer's father. Yes. Are you looking for him?"

"Wanted to surprise him and see him on campus a little."

"He's in the Braun Athletic Center with the basketball team. He was just in my class, and he followed the few team members who are in there out like he always does. If he's moved on already, then they can tell you where he is. He's a delight in class."

"You are probably one of the only ones who think that, Professor..."

"Davids. Robert Davids. I don't mind being challenged. Repetitive thinking is the death knell for the brain. For complete brain usage, diverse stimulation is the key. I teach that to every single one of my students."

"I'll head over to find Spencer."

Joe knew that Spencer told everyone that Joe was his adopted father, but he never went into more than that. Joe had been with him his first day of classes on campus but had stayed away after that. He knew where Spencer would be most of the time, but it was Tuesdays that were the big hole where that was concerned. Joe had learned the layout of the entire college; he had a good map of it as well as the tactical layout of the place. Joe wasn't ever going to leave anything that could harm Spencer to chance. Joe had not paid too much attention to the Braun Athletic Center when he had been learning things, though. He knew where it was, but that was about it.

It wasn't hard to know that it was front as he stepped up to it. No one stopped him. Joe knew that he was looking for the basketball court, so he stopped at the main desk where there was a sign to check in there.

"Card?" the woman there asked.

"I'm actually just here to see my son." Joe pulled out his ID. He could tell the moment that she recognized that he was military.

"Of course, do you know where he is?"

"He's with the basketball team, though I'm a little unsure of where the court is." The building was huge and housed a lot of things.

"Sure." The woman handed over a visitor badge that had his name written on it as well as his check-in time and the date. It was a little over the top, but Joe could understand being safe. She then told him how to get where he was going. Joe clipped the badge to his shirt and gave her a smile and told her thanks before he turned to find Spencer.

As Joe got closer to where the court was, he could hear the sound of muffled balls being bounced off of the floor and shouting. Joe slipped inside as a few kids left the room. One of them opened the door for him. Joe could see that the team was in the middle of drills. Ball handling by the little that he knew about basketball. Joe preferred hockey and baseball, but before Spencer, he would sometimes turn on basketball when he needed something on the screen to remind himself that he wasn't alone. Since Spencer, the silence in the house was something to cherish, as Spencer loved to talk. There were stark reminders that he wasn't alone all over as well. Like Spencer's school books piled on the table in the living room that was set up just for him to do his schoolwork at. The desk that Joe had bought for him in high school hadn't lasted with how many texts Spencer sometimes needed.

No one paid any attention to Joe as he slipped up the bleachers that were pulled out for people to sit and watch the team. He didn't see Spencer at all on the bleachers, so he started to get a little worried.

"Okay, suicides!" someone called out after they blew a whistle.

All of the players that were on the court stopped and started to toss the balls in toward someone. Joe stopped when he saw that it was Spencer catching the basketballs and putting them on a rack before he stripped off the long-sleeved shirt that he was wearing and joined the players on the line on the court. Joe knew exactly what suicides were, but it was strange to see Spencer doing them. He gave them his all though and beat half of the team to the finish line after the fifth one.

Joe watched the rest of the practice as Spencer took part in the physical things. Still, when it came time for drills on plays and the small scrimmage that the team had against each other, Spencer was sitting down beside the coach, and they talked.

"Come on, Genius," one of the team said when the coach called it quits on the practice. Joe watched as the team moved toward the locker rooms and for a few seconds he felt nothing but fear until he saw that Spencer went toward the other set of rooms and no one followed him. Spencer was the first to emerge about ten minutes later. He was wearing the same clothes that Joe had seen him leave for school in. Joe had found them a house that was right off of campus, and it had more than close enough for Spencer to walk everywhere. The commute had been the deciding factor. Joe didn't leave the city for much at all but on occasion he did have to leave to do things for the family business and having Spencer right there was better for his mind knowing that while Spencer had taken buses all over Vegas, Pasadena was a vastly different animal that Joe didn't care to have Spencer going all over. There was too much that Spencer would get distracted with.

One of the other team members was the first out of the locker rooms. He walked over to Spencer and pushed at his shoulder enough to where Spencer could feel it, but he wasn't unbalanced. Spencer smiled and turned around to look at him.

"We doing burgers?" the guy asked.

"Yeah. Joe's not expecting me until after dinner."

"Good. How were the angles today?" another asked as he came up and stopped beside the other guy who was there.

Spencer laughed, and it nearly took Joe's breath away from him. It was something that Joe figured that he would never see on Spencer's face when he was dealing with someone who was older than him.

"Better than last week but still not great. You aren't getting your wrist to roll right."

"Get the genius out of here. Coach can yell at us tomorrow on how bad we messed up today," someone else said, but they were laughing as they said it.

Spencer blushed and laughed a little before looking at the first guy who was out of the locker rooms. "Ready?"

"Sure. Danny is taking my stuff back to my dorm. So you have undivided attention for the next two hours." The guy wrapped his arm around Spencer's shoulder and turned him around. They walked out like that. Joe slipped off of the bleachers and out a different door. He didn't want to intrude at all on what Spencer was doing, but he wanted to make sure that Spencer was fine.

Part of Spencer's last year at high school had been hell as the kids had all blamed him instead of the team that had bullied Spencer. Only a single one of the three boys had been charged in a way that put them on the sex offenders list. It would have catastrophic repercussions for his life, and Joe was happy at that. The other two were going to have trouble finding a college that would take them, but then Joe hadn't paid that close of attention to it all after Spencer's part had been done. He had testified with a grace that Joe hadn't thought he had in him. Joe could only assume that he had learned that kind of stuff while dealing with his mother.

There was a new coach for the football team as it was found that the coach had known about the whole stripping people naked and tying them up thing and nearly every single one since it had started knew. He had also known that Spencer was going to be a target and had done nothing to stop it. There wasn't much that could be done except his career was ruined, and only a shady school would ever touch him again. It wasn't a good career for someone who wanted to be a newsworthy coach. It wasn't nearly enough, but it was as much justice as Joe could get for Spencer and the others who had that had been done to.

Therapy had been part of the entire deal. While Spencer had taken it well. It had only been after Joe had put his mother into Bennington that the therapist felt that Spencer was finally dealing with it all. Caltech had been more than a little worried about the genius they were taking into their halls at the age of twelve and had wanted to make sure he wasn't going to snap under pressure. So Joe had found the best person to talk to Spencer through it all. Another person who was a genius who had dealt with too many people he could talk circles around and had gone into therapy to help those like him. He dabbled in physics on the side to keep his mind fully active.

Spencer met with him once every other week and would for the first year at Caltech, and then it would be decided if he needed to keep on.

Trailing two college kids was stupidly easy after all of the training that Joe had. No one even questioned him being on the campus, but then he saw a lot of people who were around his age who were there. Though most of them were professors, Joe recognized faces from the faculty listing that he had seen.

The burger joint that the guy dragged Spencer to looked like a favorite since it was walking distance from the school. Joe slipped inside while they were getting settled and sat down his back to Spencer's back.

"So, what are we trying today?"

"Spicy," Spencer answered.

"All right."

"You owe me, Freddie."

"I know you beat half of the team on suicides today. The last few that were a little off about having you join us like that will be keeping their mouths shut. Are you coming with the team to the game?"

"I don't know. I haven't asked Joe yet."

"That's okay. Well ready to hit the books?"

Joe listened to the two of them talk Chemistry for an hour while they ate and ordered not only a burger with a large fry each but two milkshakes each. It was strange as hell to listen to him speak like he was to the man. The guy was obviously smart.

"I graduate next year, so I need all the help I can get on making sure that my jump shot is good enough for the draft."

"I still don't understand why you want to do that when you could just keep your science degree going."

"Barbecue, I can do that when I get tired of basketball. I can't do science and then basketball."

Joe could hear the pout in Spencer's face just from the words that he was saying.

"Besides, I will love having to make people call me Doctor Small when they piss me off in basketball interviews."

"You are horrible." Spencer laughed and then there was the sound of movement. "I forgot to grab money this morning for lunch."

Joe waited to listen to Freddie's answer, but there was nothing. Joe wanted to turn around, but that would call Freddie's attention to him.

"You know that I know your cologne, right, Joe?" Spencer asked. He reached into Joe's shirt pocket and pulled the twenty out of there that he was going to use to pay for his coffee and fries. Next, Spencer leaned over more and grabbed his ticket before he nearly bounced over toward where the register was.

Joe turned in his seat and looked at Freddie, who was grinning and laughing.

"So, you are Joe?" Freddie asked.

"Yes. And you are Freddie Small. Ph.D. in what?"

"Theoretical astrophysics. Spencer thinks I'm wasting it. I haven't pointed out to him that there are those that would think that him going into the military with as many degrees as he wants to get, is wasting his talent as well."

"How did you meet?"

"He was in the gym one day doing homework when we started to practice. He smart-mouthed off to me that he could help me add a few points to my scoring average with one simple thing. I told him to put his money where his mouth was and show me. I scored fifteen more points than my average in the next three games.

"I see. And that became what?"

"The team adopted him as their tiny mascot. He's helped with a few technical aspects of things that most of us don't even think about. We let him practice with us on things that are not plays as you saw today."

"You saw me?"

"I remember seeing your face in practice, but not until you turned around."

"When is the game?"

"Saturday. It's an hour away, so we won't leave until the afternoon."

"He'll stay with you the whole time?"

"Yes. Look. I heard about the stuff in Vegas. My grandfather lives there. He was pissed off about it. If it wasn't for me playing basketball as well as I did and that being good insulation, that could have been me. I mean, I got here early like him. I just had a reason not to make waves. I played for a local high school that allows home school kids."

"Like I'm going to do."

"Yeah. Then when I hit the age where I could play at this level, I joined. So I know where he is. It also didn't take long to put that kid together with Spencer when he said that he went to that school. No one else got it, and I've never brought it up to anyone."

Spencer yawned as he got back into the seat, and he turned to look at Joe.

"I'm tired."

"I bet. I'm not carrying you."

"Freddie did that when I fell asleep in the bleachers one day, and they needed to leave."

"He's tiny." Freddie stood up and grabbed his ticket and walked over to pay.

"Twenty wasn't enough to cover the meal."

"Eh, two milkshakes are my price for me, making sure his homework is right. The rest of the team knows it as well. And a latte is the price for me helping them study."

"Food for lessons?"

"I'm a growing boy, and nearly everyone on the team is loaded, well their parents are. There are two that aren't, but the rest of the team covers their food to make sure that they don't fail out of being allowed on the team."

"Why didn't you ever do this at high school?"

"Because I wasn't cool there?" Spencer asked.

"He's considered cool on campus since he spoke up to one of the stuffiest professors we have and corrected him."

Joe knew that Spencer's mouth was the cause of most of his issues, but it wasn't that bad thankfully.

"There is also the fact that underage kids are not that strange here. The girlfriends for members of the team are very attached to him. Like the little brother that some of them don't have or replacement little brother for the ones that do have them." Freddie reached out and ruffled Spencer's hair, getting a huff from Spencer. "Get him home. He's tired. He always is after being in practice with us."

"Is what he does something he needs to be there for every afternoon?" Joe asked.

"No. He's not like a staffer on the team. He helps us and helps coach, and we see who he can beat in suicides. Catch you tomorrow, Spencer."

"Bye, Freddie." Spencer moved around to where he was sitting in the seat that was opposite Joe.

"So, I don't have to worry about the football team?"

"No. No one messes with me like that here. They weren't before, and now they aren't going to either. I think some of the basketball team would hunt them for sport."

Joe laughed, and he stood up so that they could head home. It was a hike from where they were to the house, but it was worth it. Spencer seemed happy and healthy for the first time in a long time. He wasn't hiding from the world and what was around him. It was good. It told Joe that he was settling in and finally having fun, even if it wasn't the kind of fun that most kids had his age.

###  _January 1995_

Spencer yawned as he dropped into the front seat of the Jeep with a sigh. He had been up way too late the day before with the trip that they were going on, but it had been worth it.

"Here." Joe's voice was chipper, and Spencer really wanted to just stick his tongue out at him.

The man had delighted in waking up Spencer at the crack of dawn so they could get going. Spencer would have loved more sleep.

Spencer turned to look at what Joe was offering him to see that it was a travel cup of something. Spencer took a sip when it was in his hands, and he sighed as the warmth filled him up. It was hot chocolate, which would put him right back to sleep. Spencer tucked his legs up onto the seat and turned his head to the side to look at Joe getting into the Jeep.

"Ready?" Joe asked.

"Yes. I'm going to sleep." Spencer winced at how rough his voice sounded. He knew that it would get better with time and warm liquids. He just hadn't sounded like that in a long while.

"That's why I gave you hot chocolate, not coffee. Did you have fun with Freddie and the team last night at the game?"

"Yes. I loved it a lot. Freddie snagged us a whole section right by the glass. It was two rows of us, and they all let me sit right by the glass. It was fun, and I got to see so many people boarded."

"I thought you hated sports," Joe said.

Spencer could see the smirk on Joe's face.

"Football still sucks, but basketball is okay, and hockey is awesome." Spencer yawned his jaw cracking. By the time they had driven the hour home, it had been after midnight with stopping to get food. Freddie had driven Spencer to the game while the rest of the team crammed themselves into other cars.

"I'm glad you are finding friends. Even if most of them will be gone before you are eighteen and on a better footing with the rest of your classmates."

"By the time that Freddie leaves, the rest of the new kids on the team will like me just as much. I won't be able to help as much next year, but the coach will let me review the game tapes to see what they can be helped on. We are already working on things."

"Good. Sleep, Spencer. We will stop for breakfast when we get where we are going. You have more than enough time to go to sleep."

Spencer drained the hot chocolate before slipping the cup into the holder under the radio. Then he let his head pillow itself on his knees. He was slipping under in seconds.

* * *

The rumble of the Jeep disappearing had Spencer waking up. He groaned at how stiff his body was, and he sighed. He rubbed at his eyes; it still felt strange not to have glasses on his face. The surgery had gone well, and he hadn't had issues at all with anything. Spencer just hoped that his eye issue was fixed for good but wasn't going to be upset if he had to go back for another surgery. It wasn't that uncommon for it to happen with growing bodies.

Spencer wasn't sure where they were until he took a deep breath, and he recognized the smell of the diner that Joe loved to go to. They were back in Vegas. Spencer looked around and saw that Joe was talking to someone. It was a person that Spencer didn't know, so he stayed where he was. He did unstrap from the harness holding him into the seat and stretched his body out. It was stiff from riding like that for the four hours it took to get from Pasadena to Vegas.

"Ready?" Joe asked as he turned to look at Spencer as the other man walked away.

Spencer nodded his head and scrambled out of the Jeep. They hadn't been back to Vegas since they had left in July. Spencer knew that his mother was having issues settling down into life at Bennington. So he had been relegated to calling her once a week and writing letters. Spencer wrote long ones that he added to every day, and then he mailed them out on Monday mornings from the post office drop box on campus. Spencer had no clue if Diana read them or not as she never responded to him.

Spencer ordered hot tea with his breakfast and hoped that with a little honey in it, his throat would feel better. The tea came out as well as Spencer's toast. Joe watched him get the toast buttered up, and then he put jam on it. Joe didn't have to worry about Spencer ordering more than he could eat. If he did get full and didn't realize it wasn't like an hour later, Spencer wouldn't be hungry and eat whatever leftovers there were.

"Where are we going today?"

"Doctor Norman thinks that it's time, however, Spencer, I don't want you to get your hopes up. Diana has not had a bad reaction to your letters in a month, but she still rants and raves about me. You will not be able to have me at your side when you want to see your mother."

"But-" Spencer cut himself off and bit at his lip. He didn't want to go in without Joe to see his mother.

"I'll be in the building and close enough that I'll hear everything that you say no matter what. You don't have to. I came this weekend to sign the paperwork on the selling of the two houses and see about getting a moving company to transfer everything that we put into storage from here to there."

"You sold your house?"

"Yes. I did. I stopped here and didn't have a big attachment to the location until you. I'll go where you go. Now while you are jet setting around the country in training, I'm not going to do a damned thing but stay in California, but once you are settled on a team, I'll move there."

"You are that sure of me getting in?" Spencer asked. He leaned back so the waitress could settle their food down on the table and not hit him. It was a standard habit that Spencer had picked up from Joe.

"You haven't let a single thing stop you before now. So yes, I know you are going to get in."

Spencer felt that warmth fill him up again as he turned to his food and started to eat. His mother had thought that he could do anything, and Spencer had believed her, but that belief had begun to drop when she stopped being in touch with reality. When Joe said it, though. Spencer knew that he believed it and that Joe would do anything to make it happen.


	4. Chapter 4

## Chapter 4

###  _September 1995_

Spencer looked at the other kids who were there for orientation for JROTC, and he rubbed his hand through his newly shortened hair. Spencer knew everything to expect. Joe had been acting more like a drill sergeant than anything else over the summer, outside of when they weren't training. It had been strange as hell to see the first time that he had done it, but by the end of August, Spencer had been more than used to being yelled at like that.

It was different than when his mother would yell at him. With Diana, it had been anger and fear in her voice, but Joe's was more like disinterest. There was no personal stake in why he was yelling. There was nothing but the urge to get Spencer's ass in gear. Spencer heard the yell for everyone to fall in, and he rushed to where he was supposed to be.

Spencer was one of the first ones to get there, and he got into formation as quickly as he could with the other kids who were sophomores and up in high school. Spencer knew that he was going to have issues with everything, given that he was a new kid who didn't go to the school and didn't have friends.

"Squirt," a voice called out when they were done for the day.

Spencer ignored the voice, figuring that it was one of the other high schoolers who was yelling at their little sibling. Spencer had heard Freddie call his little brother squirt more than once when talking about him.

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

Spencer didn't even get a chance to turn around before he was being shoved forward. Spencer used the motion to spin himself around and settle on his feet and look at the person who had pushed him. It was one of the juniors that had sneered at Spencer when Spencer had done better than him in a few things.

"Sorry, if you want to get someone's attention, it's best to call them by their name. Squirt could be confused with a number of people here who have an older sibling. I don't, so I have never been called squirt in my life before. I can't read minds and know that you were talking to me when you can't even say my name."

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" the junior questioned.

"Man, leave him alone. You are going to get in trouble, again," another guy said. He looked like he was a senior. A check of his uniform showed that he had been in there for the same length as seniors.

"No, I wanna know how this little shit that came from nowhere was able to do things that none of the rest of us can do."

"Hector," the senior cautioned.

"I have spent the past year preparing for this and learning how to deal with bullies for years before that." Spencer knew that it wasn't the best answer, but he didn't back down. He was safe here. He could do this.

"You-" Hector stopped talking and cocked his fist back and started to swing.

Spencer dodged the punch and made sure that he could grab onto Hector to trip him and land him on the ground. There was the sound of his uniform ripping. Spencer didn't look at him though, he looked at the Senior who was just holding his hands up. He didn't look scared.

There was a growl from behind, and Spencer moved again, but this time, Hector fell right into the senior.

"What is going on here?" the instructor yelled out as he marched over toward them.

Hector started to stutter out how it was all Spencer's fault.

"Cadet?" the instructor asked, looking at the senior.

"Sir, Cadet Black was trying to get Cadet Reid's attention and then shoved him. Cadet Reid informed him that calling someone squirt was not the way to get anyone's attention. Cadet Hector took offense and tried to punch him. Cadet Reid sidestepped that and used Cadet Hector's own force to put him down. Cadet Hector then tried to tackle him, and Cadet Reid stepped out of the way, and that was when Cadet Hector ran into me."

"Is that correct, Cadet Reid?"

"Sir, yes, Sir!" Spencer said. He wasn't worried. He would probably still get in trouble, but it wouldn't be bad.

"Laps, all three of you until I feel better. GO!"

Spencer took off, heading toward the path that was in the grass for them to run on since there was concrete repair going on in the general area where they ran. Spencer had been by to scope the place out with Joe a few weeks before.

The pound of his feet on the grass and dirt was soothing to Spencer. He heard the other two behind him, but he didn't pay that close of attention to them. He was more than willing to let them stay behind him. Spencer wasn't quite used to the uniform yet, but he was more than happy to have the chance to get into it more. It looked strange on him, but then the uniform wasn't meant to look good on anyone, even though there were those who it did look good on.

"Cadet Black!" the instructor yelled.

Spencer itched to look back at him but didn't. He just kept on going and didn't look until he was around the turn. The instructor was yelling at Cadet Black, who was collapsed on the ground. The senior was stopped not too far back, his hands on his knees, and he was hunched over, breathing like he couldn't catch a breath.

"Cadet Reid, showers!"

Spencer turned toward where the locker room was and set about cleaning up.

Twenty minutes later, Spencer left the lockers in his street clothes with the uniform packed up the way that it needed to be. Joe had already made sure that Spencer knew everything that he needed to get through this. Spencer had already picked up most of the mannerisms he would need to survive. There was a good feeling about having a place that was spotless, and everything was where it belonged.

"Cadet Reid," a voice said from just to the side as Spencer walked down the path from the lockers that the football team used.

Spencer stopped and turned to see that it was Freddie.

"You should be at school!" Spencer looked around to see if there was any more of the team with him.

"I should, except the professor started upchucking halfway through, so we were dismissed with the sheets on what is expected of us for the year. I thought you might be hungry."

"I am, but Joe wants to have dinner at home today."

"Yeah, but that's like an hour from now. We can grab a milkshake, and you can tell me about your first day. Joe called the school and had me tracked down to drive you home if I could. If not, find a team member. He is fine, but one of the tires on the Jeep blew, and so he put the spare on it and is going to pick up another."

"Oh." Spencer felt that lurch in his stomach at Joe being hurt. He really didn't want that. He really didn't.

"He's fine. He sounded fine when I called him on the number at the shop to tell him that I would get you. He's getting the rest of the tires checked out while getting a new spare."

"You sure?"

"Yes." Freddie laughed and gave Spencer a big smile before he reached out to pull Spencer with him when he started to walk.

Spencer saw Freddie's car at the edge of the street that wrapped around the school. It was interesting to see it as Freddie only used it when driving to and from LA Kings games. Spencer still went with him as much as he could, even skipping a class once to drive to an away game that was three hours away. Spencer was going to miss him next year, and he would have to settle for games that he could watch on TV at home. Spencer's stomach growled as soon as they were inside of the car, and it made Spencer laugh.

It was strange to be alone with Freddie as Spencer hadn't really been alone with him in a while. Spencer had been sure that Freddie knew that he had a crush on him and had just stopped hanging out with him alone so that he didn't have to deal with it. Yet, as they talked as they drove, Spencer couldn't see anything different. It felt normal.

The crush had bloomed out of nowhere just after the basketball season had ended. Freddie had kept on hanging out with Spencer and sometimes going on runs with him in the early morning hours before classes started. It was a stupid crush that Spencer didn't want. He didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize his chances in the military. He didn't need a partner like that. Relationships were too much work for nothing in return. The teams would be his only family, them, and Joe. Spencer had it all mapped out, and his crush on a male was not in the plan. Especially a very adult male who shouldn't want anything to do with Spencer at all. Though if he did, it would make things easier because then Freddie was a creep and needed to be watched to make sure that he didn't hurt anyone, but he wasn't that way, and Spencer knew it.

"What kind do you want?"

"I want a banana split."

"Well, then it is a good thing I picked a place that serves them, huh?" Freddie put the car into a parking spot, and since the weather was stuffy from the rain that morning, it was the perfect weather to sit outside and eat ice cream.

"You knew exactly what I would want." Spencer dug into his bag and found the money that Joe made sure that he had on him at all times. He handed over enough for the banana split made with twist ice cream instead of just vanilla.

"Yes, I did." Freddie took the money and added his own, and when it was time to pay, he left the rest as a tip. Their banana splits were passed out another window. They walked to a picnic bench that was on the grassy area between the ice cream shop and the next business, which looked like a law office of some kind. Spencer sneered at the office and huffed before licking up whipped cream from the middle area of the ice cream.

"How was today?" Freddie asked after he swallowed his first bite of ice cream.

"Tiring but good. Joe is harder on me than the instructor, but I don't see that keep happening. He's going to get tougher as I keep rising and meeting each challenge. I'm used to that, though. I got used to it at school before I went to high school. I can do it." Spencer knew that Freddie knew it. Spencer just was regretting not going to that school before this. It would make things a lot easier, but he didn't want to repeat high school for all of the money in the world. He never wanted to be back in a place like that. It had been the worst, his senior year.

"Good. Look Beaker will be the captain next year. We all know it. Stick close to him. He'll make sure that no one messes with you."

"You still have all of this year. I'm still just a lowly sophomore. If anyone wants to mess with me, they will. Though I think showing up in uniform for the day a week that I have to wear it to school will make things either worse or better."

"By next year, hopefully, no one messes with you, but you gotta promise me to go to Joe, Beaker, or coach if you are having issues."

"Sure, Freddie. Why are you acting like this."

"You are a great kid, and I hate to have anything happen to you." Freddie looked away, and his eyes went distant. "I get the newspaper for Vegas. I have since you went on that trip with Joe to learn scuba diving. There was another round of that tying someone up to the goalpost."

"Shit." Spencer looked around to make sure that no one else was around to yell at him for his words. "What happened?"

"It was this kid who mouthed off about liking the quarterback's girlfriend. Only, the kid was related to one of the Senators. The school is being looked into even more now, and the kids who did it were expelled because the kid didn't keep his mouth shut, as he shouldn't have anyway."

"I'm so glad I am not there."

"So, you have never got to tell me everything about SCUBA diving."

"Oh, it was great. It was just freaking great. It was fun but also very much a learning exercise. I spent a whole day in classes learning everything, and then at the end, we were allowed to explore the coral reefs alone. I am still not sure that it was technically allowed, but Joe can get his way when he wants."

"He's scary. He might be small for some retired military guys, but he just kind of looks like a scary person. I'm glad that he doesn't have a daughter. Can you see any boy walking up to ask him if they could date her?"

Spencer laughed because it was so very true.

"Joe never wanted kids. I don't know why he took me in. I mean home sucked, but it's taken me a year of therapy to be able to say that. Home sucked, and I was given way too much pressure. If it hadn't been for Joe, I probably would have gotten loose from that goalpost and walked home to find that she didn't even realize that I was late." Spencer started to eat more vigorously on his banana split because he didn't want to keep on having word vomit happening. Freddie, hell most of the basketball team, was pretty damned good about letting him go but cutting him off when what he was talking about turned into a tangent.

"He might not have wanted kids, but what you have told me he took you in. He could have just called the cops and let everything go. He could have just not started to teach you to defend yourself. He chose to do it, Spencer, and that means everything."

"Yeah. I know. I love him, and I know he loves me. He doesn't say it, but it's how he treats me." Spencer got up and threw away his empty plastic boat and looked at Freddie, who was finishing up his as well.

"We better go before Joe sends the cops after me."

"Yeah. He would too," Spencer said with a grin on his lips. Freddie ruffled his hair as he passed by him.

Spencer's heart skipped a beat, and all he wanted to do was stab it until it died. He didn't need that at all.

###  _December 1995_

"How was she?" Joe asked as he tipped the glasses on his nose down and looked at Spencer as Spencer came through the hotel room door. He closed his book and set it aside. The bed was the best place for him to crash out with his leg aching like it was. The couch was too far from the bathroom.

"Good. She wants me to come back Christmas morning to open presents with her. I told her that you would call Doctor Norman to figure out the best time." Spencer walked over to his bed and dropped down onto it. Looking up at the ceiling.

Joe knew that something was up, but he wasn't sure what it was. Spencer had been more subdued than Joe thought he would be about coming home this trip. Joe still hadn't figured out what that was about. He had gone willingly to see Diana today, taking a bus when Joe had to stay behind because his leg was aching. A round of mock fighting had ended up with Joe with a black eye and a strained muscle in his leg, and it was aching him, despite the pain killers and muscle relaxers that he was on. Every time he overdid it on his leg, he was given them because if he didn't, his hips and his other leg would hurt from overcompensating for everything.

It had been rounds of trial and error at the beginning that had ended up with Joe being in a hell of a lot of pain. Joe wanted to be able to go around with Spencer tomorrow and get the last of the gifts that Spencer wanted to get for his friends on the basketball team. Yet, he couldn't do that unless he rested today, so Joe had sent Spencer to a day with Diana alone. The staff of Bennington had been there, and all knew to watch them closely. The mood that Spencer was in had been there before the visit, so Joe knew that it wasn't Diana's fault, but he had hoped that seeing her would get rid of it. It hadn't made it worse, and it was the only plus.

"What do you want for dinner?" Joe asked, hoping that Spencer would perk up at that. Spencer loved food. More than most kids his age. Joe had hoped that he would have at least two more years before Spencer became a human garbage disposal. Spencer was putting on some height, but with the more strenuous activity more often, he was getting muscles all over.

"Steak." Spencer didn't move on the bed, his body still in a way that was not normal at all for him.

"And?"

"Fried potatoes, broccoli, carrots, and root beer. Cake for dessert. Don't care what kind."

"You looked at the menu for the restaurant this morning, didn't you?" Joe hadn't noticed him looking at it, but then it would have only taken seconds for Spencer to read it over and store it and think all day on what he wanted.

"Yes." Spencer rolled onto his side before pushing himself up to where he was lying on his side on the bed. He looked at where Joe was and sighed. "And they do room service."

"Hungry now?" Joe asked. He reached out for the phone, and he saw Spencer nod his head.

The boy got up off the bed and walked to the bathroom, grabbing his bag of clothes as he passed by. Joe narrowed his eyes. Spencer had showered that morning, and it was rare for him to do that, so if he was showering again, it wasn't good. Joe wondered if he should have just driven them in on Christmas morning and then headed back that night. Spencer hadn't been like this the last few visits to Vegas that they had done. With the houses being sold, Joe had just been doing day visits, but he wanted to have a few days away from school and everything for Spencer so he could relax. Other than Spencer's morning run, which he had done on the treadmill that morning, Joe hadn't pushed him to do anything. He was sure that he had heard Spencer doing push-ups that morning, though.

Joe called in the food for himself and Spencer. As well as a bottle of sparkling grape juice because it was the twenty-third of December, and they both needed something to cheer them up a little as the funk of the holiday set in.

Vegas was a madhouse but a very different madhouse than it usually was. Joe didn't miss this season in the city, but then Pasadena wasn't that much better at all.

Spencer was done with his shower and came out dressed in his sleep clothes. The T-shirt that was ill-fitting but soft to the touch and a pair of pants that Joe noticed had seen better days. He knew that Spencer liked his sleep clothes to be soft and nice, but this was a little much. He would have to take him shopping for some new ones before he went back to school. Joe would hate for any of his friends to see him like he was at the moment. Though Joe knew that the only ones that were friends with him were on the basketball team. While Spencer showered in a different locker room since he was underage if he did weekend practice and such with them, he still wore ratty clothes. Joe remembered wearing things that pissed off his parents when he was growing up.

The knock happened as Spencer was walking across the floor, and he turned around to open the door. Joe tossed his wallet at Spencer, who caught it with ease. He pulled out a bill to give to the waiter with a smile before he took possession of the cart to wheel it over between the beds so they could both eat. There was just enough room that Spencer could sit on the bed and eat off of the cart if he wanted. However, he handed over Joe's food to him, the main plate with the side of fried potatoes being handed over next, and Joe laid them beside him. Then Spencer climbed up onto Joe's bed into the space made between Joe and the edge and pulled his food onto his lap. He grabbed the bottle and handed that over to Joe, ignoring it.

"It's juice, not wine."

"Oh. Cool. Are we going to share?" Spencer was already cutting into his steak.

Joe eyed Spencer for a few seconds. They didn't eat like this much anymore. Spencer was too old for the few moments of cuddling that Joe got away with. If he wanted the closeness, Joe knew that he was having a rough few days. He would give until the next evening before forcing Spencer to talk to him. "Get me the glasses, and we will."

Spencer set down his knife and fork and grabbed the two wine glasses that were on the cart. Spencer held them both still while Joe poured out the sparkling grape juice. Joe watched Spencer's face as he took the first drink. He was content, but Joe didn't want him just content.

"Hungry?" Joe asked when Spencer shoved a second bite of steak into his mouth before he was done chewing the first bite.

"Starved. Lunch was kind of disgusting and no amount of nicked pudding cups made up for the fact that I didn't get a good meal."

"That's why the steak and potatoes."

"Yup." Spencer popped the P as much as he could with food in his mouth. It was a horrible habit, but Joe knew that it only happened when they were together in private. In public and around his friends, Spencer had the best manners.

"How are school and everything going?" Joe knew that Spencer was fairly open about it all, but sometimes, he could catch Spencer off guard, and he gave up things that he didn't mean to. Spencer didn't try and keep things from him, he just kept a lot of things to himself from the year of taking care of himself and his mother that he had under his belt. It was such a short time, but it was harder to break a habit like that than it was others.

"Good. Classes are more interesting this year."

"The ones you haven't tested out of."

"Those would have been even more boring to me."

Joe knew it too. Spencer was easy to entertain when it was interesting. Still, when what he was learning wasn't interesting enough to him, he got in trouble. So far, that hadn't happened at ROTC, but then Spencer had adapted well to being in the good mindset where he didn't mouth off to his instructor like he did the professors at the college.

"Al thinks you are doing well." Joe had wanted to wait until Spencer had formed his own opinion of the man who was his teacher before telling him that he knew him.

Spencer looked up at him and smirked. The little shit already knew Joe mused.

"How?"

"He's watching me closer than the other students but makes a concentrated effort on not singling me out any more than he does anyone else. There is also the fact that you have never gone there to meet him. You dropped me off the first day and left me, and you never mentioned talking to him. You would only do that with someone that you knew."

"We went through boot camp together and kept in some kind of contact over the years. Usually, postcards from places we had been that were mailed to our main locations. He was east, and I was west coast." Joe wondered just what Spencer saw in everyone who was around him. "So, do you like him?"

"I mean as much as anyone who can like a drill instructor. I have a few others in the group who I think do hate me, but then they could just act like it so that they don't seem like they are playing favorites."

"How are the rest of the kids doing with your acing everything?" Joe asked.

"Pretty good. The seniors have started to act a little more like leaders since the first day, which has made things better for them. Black is still causing issues, but since he's no longer in ROTC, that means he can't cause too many. I was the last strike, and so no one else is acting out on the fact he was removed two weeks into the year. He bullied a lot of people, and he's in no way the makings of an officer."

"No, I agree."

Silence filled the room after that with only the slight scrape of utensils on plates and the sound of breathing to fill the room. Joe knew that Spencer was letting the silence fill the room so that he wasn't tempted to spill what was going on in his head.

Spencer's childhood was hard to get back. He was past the age where Joe could talk him into normal kid things, and he didn't have friends his own age. Fourteen was a hard age no matter what, but the friends that Spencer had were five years at minimum older than him. Joe was content with him goofing off as much as he would. The weird hours with the basketball team and going to hockey games when they were in season was enough for Joe. Spencer wasn't absorbed in school and ROTC as much as Joe feared he would be. Spencer never had a chance of being ordinary with the gifts that he had. Especially with having the mother and the father that he did. Even if Diana hadn't been sick, William Reid would have still left Spencer in her hands. It was just easier to use that as an excuse. William was not equipped to deal with a child with an IQ like Spencer had.

Joe wasn't equipped either, but he did his best. There was a learning curve to it all, and Joe had let Spencer set the pace when he was learning to be around him. Joe had the money to make Spencer's wishes and dreams come true, and after the hell the boy had been put through, Joe knew that he spoiled him. He would trade his money for Spencer having everything that he needed to keep his brain going.

There were issues with Joe not being that sure that the military was what Spencer needed, but it was what Spencer wanted. If Joe forbade it, there would be consequences. Joe had never thought that he would love Spencer, but he did. That emotion had surprised the hell out of him, but he would rather have Spencer happy with his choices and have to help pick up the pieces if he failed than to deny him and Spencer cut him out of his life.

The future was still in flux, but it was a future that Joe could be proud of for Spencer.

* * *

"Mom and I used to go to breakfast here. William never came with us because it was too low-brow for him. His parents worked for a living, both of them, and made sure that their kids had everything that needed to get through life. Yet, places like where his parents went were too low for him."

Joe held in the huff at that. He could see it in William Reid. These kinds of places were something that Joe and his parents went to often, even though they could pay for meals at the places that catered to people of their socioeconomic status. It was why Joe was more comfortable at diners than high priced restaurants. The world was built on the backs of the working class.

"Oh," Spencer said, and it drew Joe out of his thoughts.

There was a couple in front of them on the sidewalk. The female looked confused, and the man was shocked. It took a few seconds for Joe to recognize William Reid.

"Speak of the devil," Joe said.

The words seemed to pull William out of his stupor, and he looped his arm through the woman's and pulled her after him as he tried his hardest to get past them quickly.

"I'd be careful," Spencer said just as the pair was about to pass by them.

"Excuse me," the woman said. She stopped, forcing William to stop as well.

"I said you had better be careful. He's got a track record of leaving his children behind and not giving a shit about them."

"Who the hell are you?" the woman demanded.

"The child he had with another woman. His first wife. Now I'm being raised by another man, and William didn't care when I was left in an abusive home and tormented by bullies. He told me that I needed to get better at dealing with them. He's pretty high up in the law firm now, despite what the firm knows he did. Though I think it might be a point in his favor. I mean, he's ruthless and treats his own child as if he was no better than the shit on his shoe. Who knows what depths he would go to get his clients off."

"William?" the woman questioned with her hand going to her belly.

Joe saw the swell that was there now. Spencer had noticed it right off.

"Let's get away from these crazy people."

"Look him up! William Reid formerly married to Diana Reid, who is now in a mental institution and his only son Spencer Reid a sophomore at Caltech at the age of fourteen. I'm sure it will be enlightening. Though he might not abandon you or your child if it's a boy that fits into the image of what he thinks his son should be!" Spencer rant was delivered with very little emotion.

"Let's go," William demanded, and his wife moved along with him, but she kept on looking back at them.

"That's a damned good present from the universe," Spencer said.

"What?" Joe asked as he pulled his eyes from where the Reids were running away to Spencer.

"Freddie gets the newspaper from here. He tells me it's so he can tell me the fun stuff, so I don't have to hear all of the bad shit, but he saw the announcement about them getting married. I didn't think much of it until we were here."

That explained the moody teenager routine that Spencer had been pulling the day before, and Joe could understand it. Joe had anger that was entirely rational against William, but Spencer didn't want to make him angry.

"Why don't we get ice cream?"

"Pancakes," Spencer countered.

"We already ate breakfast, and it's two hours until lunch."

"Pancakes with chocolate chips and whipped cream."

Joe knew exactly where they were going. He nodded his head, and Spencer let out a whoop of a yell in celebration. Joe looked to where the Reids were to see that William had stopped at the corner and was watching them. His wife was beside, and she looked sad. Her hand was still rubbing her stomach. Joe wondered just how long that marriage was going to last now and while he felt bad for the woman. He had no sympathy for William. It seemed he had either lied to her about his previous marriage or just not mentioned it. There was no room for lies like that in a marriage that would last.

"Come on, Dad," Spencer said.

Joe looked at Spencer's back as he walked toward where the restaurant was that had Spencer's wants. Joe felt a tear in his eye at Spencer calling him Dad. It didn't seem that William had been called that for long. Joe would never have demanded it. He was okay being called Sir, or Joe on the rare occasion. But Dad...dad was earned in Spencer's eyes, and it was the best thing to be called in Joe's eyes.

###  _May 1996_

Spencer laughed as he was tugged along by Cadet Simmons on the dance floor. The song was fast, and it made his blood pump. He felt another hand on his shoulder and turned to see it was a girl that he didn't know. Spencer was the only person there who didn't go to the high school, but allowances had been made for the dance as he was the date of Cadet Simmons. Simmons was the only one that Spencer was close to on the ROTC squad. They were in the same year of ROTC, but she was a little younger than him, four months, Spencer was pretty sure. She didn't have the want of a relationship at the moment, but at least seeming to date Spencer gave her a buffer. The girls in the school were all hyped up that she was dating a college kid even if he was the same age as them.

"Ready to cut a rug?" another girl asked as she pulled Spencer away from his current dance partner.

Spencer nodded his head and let himself move from girl to girl to girl. Spencer was looking forward to telling Freddie about it after ROTC on Monday unless he saw him before then.

Another hour of dancing and Spencer was thirsty. He looked to find Cadet Simmons at the punch table. Spencer wandered over toward her and poured himself a cup of it before he drained that and got more.

"Let's go show the losers how to really dance," Cadet Simmons said.

Spencer drank the third glass, and he nodded, allowing her to drag him onto the dance floor. He doesn't let anyone take him away from Cadet Simmons this time, either.

Twenty minutes later, Spencer was feeling weird. He had drunk beer before, Joe had allowed him to know what each of the alcoholic drinks tasted like since he was on a college campus and there were assholes around that didn't care that he was underage if they could get him drunk and doing stupid stuff. The punch hadn't tasted spiked at all. He did not feel like he was drunk, either. This was worse than that. Spencer stopped dancing and looked to where the punch was and watched over five minutes as it was just the girls who were drinking from it. Spencer looked around the room. No guys had a cup from the punch bowl in their hand. None of them. That wasn't normal.

"Simmons," Spencer said as he grabbed her arm when the room began to spin. "I need to call dad."

"Okay. Come with me."

The room spun more as Spencer held onto Cadet Simmons' arm as they walked out of the gym and down toward an office where the door was open.

"Cadet Reid?" Instructor Biggs said as he stood up from where he was reading a book.

"He's not acting right."

"Dad. I need to talk to dad."

"Sure." Biggs grabbed a phone and dialed the number needed before he handed the phone over.

"Nutter," Joe answered on the first ring.

"Dad. I don't..." Spencer felt the bile rising in his throat, and he rushed to a trashcan to start to throw up. He heard voices in the background, and he wasn't sure what was going on otherwise.

Hands settled onto Spencer's back, rubbing there to help settle him down. Spencer couldn't move. His body felt sluggish, and it was taking all that he had to stay upright so that he didn't collapse and choke on his sick.

"Please," Spencer begged, and he wasn't sure what he was begging for.

* * *

Joe left the keys in the Jeep as he got out and rushed up the stairs that would take him into the school. He heard the cops behind him but didn't care too much about that. After Spencer had started to throw up, Al had taken over the phone, and the Cadet that had brought Spencer to him had gone to check the dance, and there were a few girls who were throwing up as well.

The whine of the sirens from the ambulances was not far out. It wasn't sure if it was tainted food, or something more sinister going on. Joe wanted it to be tainted food because he wasn't sure that he wanted Spencer at the center of another high school news blowup.

The sound of kids throwing up was the first thing that Joe heard as he made his way to the office where the ROTC instructors worked from. He found Spencer on the couch with a trash can in front of him. He was lying down, and his head was tipped to where if he did throw up, it would be on the couch. Al was sitting on the arm of the couch, and he was looking pissed off.

"Al?"

"It's all girls," Spencer answered.

"What?" Joe asked.

"Sir, other than Spencer, it's all girls who are throwing up. A few more are just acting weird, and a few are passed out. Spencer made the comment that there were no boys drinking from the punch bowl before he couldn't speak anymore," Simmons answered before Al could.

"And the punch?"

"I have two other teachers guarding it. The rest are waiting for the EMTs or calling parents to meet their kids at the hospital or to just come and pick them up. I called in help and gave lists to teachers at home to call the rest of the staff in and the parents. Sixty-seven kids are here right now that need to be picked up after the cops talk to them."

"So, not tainted food?"

"No."

"Shit," Joe said. He wanted to say more, but it wasn't like it was good to do around two kids. He wondered just what was going on. He really hoped that it wasn't a whole thing where the boys were all in on it.

"Sir," a teenager said as he entered the room. He was in a dress uniform like Spencer and Simmons, telling Joe that he was in ROTC.

"Yes, Cadet Roberts?"

"I was talking to a boy, and he's waiting for the cops to talk to him, but he was pressured by a few of the other boys not to drink the punch because the punch was for pansies. I didn't drink it because I was just drinking water from the fountain. Most of the other Cadets were as well, but we all know that Cadet Reid has a sweet tooth."

Joe snorted despite himself. He looked at Spencer, who seemed to be sleeping at the moment.

"So someone spiked it with something that wasn't alcohol."

"Why do you say that?" Al asked.

"Spencer knows what alcohol tastes like. He's a mouthy kid who doesn't make friends well at all. He's ripe for bullying and has been the target of it time and again. He's also easy to lure to do things if it's something the rest of the kids are doing as long as it's not force that makes him do it. I wanted to make sure he knew if he was drinking something like that."

"So a drug of some kind. I'll let the cops know," Al said. He nodded at Joe and pointed to the couch. "I'll also send an EMT in here. I think that getting him where they can do blood tests might be the best option."

"Agree. And the Principal?"

"On her way. She was at home tending to her husband, who had surgery this week and just got home today. I offered to stand in for her, given that he was late in getting released to go home, and that meant she didn't get to pamper him like she wanted."

Joe nodded and walked over to where he could take Al's spot beside Spencer on the couch.

"He was having fun, Sir," Simmons said.

"Yeah?" Joe asked.

"Given that he's a college kid, the girls were hard to keep off of him, but they weren't pushy or anything like that. He drank three cups of the punch in like two minutes, and then we danced more."

"Gulping it down, and then the blood pumping meant that it hit him quickly. Thanks."

The next hour was a rush as the EMTs checked Spencer out and then got him ready for transport to the local hospital, along with every kid that was still there. The ones who weren't showing symptoms went in the back of police cruisers, piled three in at a time. If the kids were awake and functioning, there was more than one put into an ambulance. Spencer and a few of the other girls went alone.

Joe looked around the ER that was packed with beds on every single surface. It was the only emergency going on, so thankfully, there weren't other patients around. Most of them had been shuffled out quickly or transferred to rooms elsewhere. The fact that the kids couldn't consent to anything made the hospital protect them more.

"Mister Nutter?" a lady asked as she entered the room that Spencer had been put.

Joe turned away from the window he was looking out and took her in. She was dressed in plain clothes, but it wasn't hard to pin her as a cop and former military. Her badge was on her hip, beside her gun.

"Detective?"

"Nice."

"Really?" Joe raised an eyebrow at that.

"Yes. My husband cackles when I introduce myself around him. Mrs. Nice. Though he's Mister Nice."

"So do you need Spencer's statement." Joe looked at Spencer who was still asleep. He would rouse enough to keep the doctors happy when shaken, but right now, they were more than content to let him sleep while hooked up to monitors.

"Yes, but not today. It's unlikely that he'll remember much at all. We have confessions from the three who did this. I do want to let you know that we will be going after them. They got the dosage wrong. It was supposed to make everyone a little looser, but they added too much. Kids who drank a glass spread out were better, but kids like Spencer, who drank several in a short period of time. The hospital will keep him overnight, as I am sure you are well aware."

"Thanks for letting me know. I'd make sure that no one realizes who did it, Ma'am. I don't think many parents here tonight are going to be happy about this. No matter the intent, this could have been bad if kids had started to leave. You can keep the name of the drug from me, but I can guess what it was. While the intent might have been a night of fun, it might have turned a lot worse for the boys and girls who were drugged without them knowing, but I think that you might want to talk to them again, pressure them."

"Why?"

"One of the Cadets told me that boys were bullying the other boys not to drink. They might have wanted the girls to have more fun, but that kind of fun can be consented to."

Detective Nice looked like she wanted to spit nails. She turned on her heel and walked out of the room. Joe really hoped that the bottom was gotten to on this. Thankfully, while Spencer might have noticed it all, he wasn't going to be a big part of the investigation. He didn't need this bothering him. There was a little bit left of school both Spencer's year and his year doing ROTC.

Joe walked over to Spencer's bed and sat down on the edge of it as Spencer rolled over. His hand dislodged the monitor on his finger, so Joe waited for him to settle before he replaced it. A nurse came in quickly but smiled when she saw him putting it back. Spencer and a few of the others had been knocking them off all evening so far. It was hell on the nurses who couldn't ignore the life sign dropping to nothing but also were reasonably sure that it was just it falling off.

"I can only hope that we have the majority of the big shit behind now, Spencer. I don't think I can take this much more. You are the zero ground for too much shit." Joe reached out and tangled his fingers in Spencer's hair, feeling the warmth of his son's skin there before he started to card his fingers through.

So much had changed in the months since Spencer had started to call him dad. It was strange to think of Spencer as his son, but that was what he was. He might still have the Reid name, but he was Joe's. Spencer wasn't so much attached to his name as he didn't feel like it was needed to change it. Joe could understand that. It was easier to keep the name than it was to change it. Still, Joe knew that Spencer hated William Reid. He blamed the man for everything, including his mother getting worse. Joe knew where Spencer was coming from with that.

If William had stuck around, Spencer would have stayed closer to home. Spencer blamed the whole Diana getting worse so quick on himself, and Joe knew that he would never not think it. Joe wasn't even sure that it wasn't the truth. Diana had seemed to spiral deep and hard when Spencer had started to spend more time with Joe.

"You should sleep while he is," a nurse said as she came into the room to check the saline bag that was hanging up and feeding into Spencer's arm as well the leads that ran to the monitor on his finger.

"I can stay awake as long as needed." Joe knew that he would crash hard as hell when it happened, but for now, he was just fine like he was.

"He'll hopefully sleep all night long and wake up in the morning a little groggy and not have a lot of memories."

"He'll hate that. He remembers everything."

Spencer's memory was centered more on what he read, but he had a good memory for everything that he did. He would have been able to tell Joe how long he danced with each girl and what their name was. Having his memory gone of the evening meant that for Spencer's last year of JROTC, he wasn't going to get him to another dance. Hell, he probably wouldn't be able to get him to a party on campus grounds even after he turned eighteen. Spencer had stepped out of his shell and look what had happened. Even though it wasn't aimed at Spencer, it had still happened. It would be hell to get him to do anything like it again.

"I've seen more than one person out there looking at him before they left."

"He's not good at making friends, but it seemed he has made a few tonight. Either that or they are worried about him since he's the one that figured out what had happened here."

"It's so horrible, but I know that it was stopped before it got too bad. This could have been the start of a lot of nightmares for a lot of kids."

"Yeah." Joe just wondered if it was going to be a nightmare of some kind for Spencer as well. Joe was just really fucking happy that Spencer talked to his therapist once a month, even if it was a phone call thing instead of going for a full visit. Joe would make sure that Spencer did it. He just hoped that this didn't fuck him up any more than he already was from the rest of his childhood.


	5. Chapter 5

## Chapter 5

###  _September 1999_

Spencer slowly pulled into the driveway and shut off his car. He smiled at the interior and the fuzzy dice that were still hanging from the rearview mirror. The car had been Freddie's, and he hadn't wanted to drive it all the way across the country when he joined the Boston basketball team. He had packed a lot of his things, and even though it had been two years before Spencer could even get his permit and start to drive, Freddie had talked to Joe. So Freddie's car was Spencer's. He and Joe had spent years rebuilding everything inside of it. Joe was fascinated with engines, and it was one of the degrees that he had obtained while he was laid up while a SEAL years before. Rebuilding it had been a lot of fun.

Joe hadn't hesitated at all about teaching Spencer to drive in it and in the Jeep. The secondary car that Joe had used for years had been sold off not long after Freddie had given Spencer the car. The Amazon that had been his mother's car was in storage in California, and Spencer itched to pull it out next, and they work on it. There was room in the garage. Joe had picked the house that he had years before because of a three-car garage that usually only had two cars inside of it.

Spencer's stomach growling pulled Spencer out of his thoughts, and he grabbed his bag from the passenger seat and climbed out of the car. He hit the button for the garage door, and it started to go down as Spencer unlocked the door that led inside. It was something that Spencer appreciated about Joe, he never really left anything unlocked. Even the garage door that could only be accessed from inside of the garage.

"Hit the shower! Dinner's a little late." Joe called out from somewhere inside the house.

Spencer looked at the stove to see the counter on the oven still have half an hour. He turned to the left to head up the stairs that led up to the second floor and quickly got to his room to shower. It was nice to get out of his fatigues and into other clothes. Usually, Spencer didn't mind them, but the showers at the school that the ROTC kids were allowed to use were broken, and Spencer hadn't felt like trying to slip in somewhere else. So he was sweaty and stinky, and he didn't like it all that much since he was home. If Spencer was doing a weekend thing or even a week-long summer excursion for ROTC, he didn't mind staying in his fatigues all day for that. When he was home, or in his car and in them, he hated it. When it was maneuvers and things like that, everyone was in them. They all smelled the exact same, looked the exact same.

Fresh-faced and running a towel through his slightly curly hair, Spencer looked at himself in the mirror. Nearly all of the baby fat that had been clinging to him was gone. He had hit six foot one the year before and had added nearly another half of an inch since then. He was glad he had finally grown into his larger feet. It made running so much easier. Spencer ran his hand over the five o'clock shadow on his face and sighed before he ignored the razor. He would shave in the morning as he didn't feel like adding that time to getting ready now. He wanted down there for food; even if the food wasn't ready, he could grab a roll or a slice of bread to stop his stomach from yelling at him.

Joe wasn't in the kitchen at all, and so Spencer grabbed a slice of bread that was buttered on the table and wolfed it down before finding something to drink in the fridge. He grabbed the gallon of milk and the glasses that lived beside the fridge to stop Spencer from drinking from the gallon. He filled up the glass and chugged half of it before filling it up again. He set that down by his spot at the kitchen table before he walked out of the kitchen to find Joe.

"Dad?" Spencer called out in the living room.

"Here!" Joe called from the back of the house. Spencer walked that way and found Joe buried in a box in the room that had been storage since they had moved in. The basement wasn't a good option for that kind of stuff as Joe had issues with stairs and carrying anything. He wasn't so full of pride that he did shit that could hurt him, which Spencer was thankful for.

"Whatcha doing?" Spencer asked.

"Getting through a few boxes that the boy down the street carried up for me from the basement. It's all stuff we haven't touched since we moved in, so I'm sorting through my things and getting rid of things I don't need anymore and leaving your stuff for you." Joe looked up from where he was sitting in a rolling chair. His cane was leaning beside him on the desk that had been lost to boxes for a long time. The room was organized into seasons it looked like. Halloween decorations were at the front of the room, ready to be put up when October first rolled around. Spencer was glad that Joe was still going to be doing that, even if Spencer was technically too old to do anything like that. He was a month away from turning eighteen.

"Well, I've mostly gone through everything in the basement in the past years so we can just pack all of my things up into a few boxes and store them down there. I'm still too sentimental to part with them. Though, I'll gladly bring up things and take them back down when you need it. You don't need to con the neighbor boy into doing it."

"Conning isn't what I am doing. He's selling himself to buy some toy that's coming out next month. His parents told him that he had to save up for it himself."

"Jimmy, who breaks his toys two days after getting them?" Spencer asked.

"Yes. We are hoping that if he buys it himself, he won't break it nearly as quick. He's halfway there. I gave him fifty cents for each box, he carried ten the other day. He is also pulling weeds in Miss Albright's garden. He's been a model little kid, so we all feel like helping him as much as we can. We have a standard rate, though, that everyone sticks to."

"Well, when he stops, let me know."

Spencer felt bad that he wasn't home as much as he used to be before he had a car that he could drive. He was doing ROTC on campus, doing study sessions with kids at the college for money. While Joe would give him anything that he wanted, Spencer wanted to get a good present for him this Christmas that he bought with his own money. Joe had never asked why Spencer took a job at the college, and Spencer was pretty sure that he wasn't going to ask.

"I will. I'll even pay you more." Joe winked at him and closed the box he had been throwing things into.

Spencer recognized that it was a lot of Joe's SEAL team memorabilia. That box went to the side with another box that wasn't marked. The other boxes were all marked.

"I think I'm going to redo the office."

"Into what?" Spencer asked.

The timer went off in the kitchen, blaring loudly.

"What did you make?" Spencer asked. The smell was good, but he couldn't place the smell of the food at all. His stomach was thankfully still ravenous and was letting him know.

"Some casserole like thing that Joyce down the street makes for her kids. It's easy to make it healthy enough if you cut down on the meat and potatoes and add more vegetables. Still, there are enough of both to fill us both up."

"Sounds good to me."

"You'll eat anything I stick in front of you." Joe held out his hand, and Spencer held to stabilize him as he got up. Joe's leg was doing well, but it didn't like to sit in that position like that for long, and given how stiff it looked when Joe started to walk, Spencer figured that he had been there like that longer than he should have been.

Spencer strolled behind him, making sure that he was there to catch Joe if needed.

"How is Freddie doing in Boston? You've not talked about him a lot lately."

"Busy. I get letters about once a month from him. He's dating someone who lives there, and it's going a little rocky."

"Yeah?" Joe walked to the oven as soon as he entered the kitchen. Shutting off the timer and then opening up the oven. The casserole that he pulled out looked like it was covered in cheese and under that shredded hash browns. Spencer's stomach growled at that.

"She's not happy with him traveling so much of the year, and even when he's home, he's not at home enough for her liking. I told him to dump her ass, but he's in love."

"Men in love do stupid things," Joe said.

"I, at least, stopped him from asking her to move in with him. That just has all kinds of unhappiness written all over it. He would have to deal with her griping all the time when he was home. He wouldn't be able to escape her anger."

"Sounds like he needs to learn that on his own."

"Yeah, he said he wasn't going to take advice from a seventeen-year-old boy who isn't even interested in dating at all."

"Speaking of-"

Joe cut off when Spencer glared at him.

"Can we not? I have no interest in taking what little free time I have to attempt to find someone who will be upset when I go off to boot camp and BUD/S. You have no attachment to grandkids. You can't even stand when the couple next door has their toddler outside, and it's crying."

"He," Joe said.

Spencer just glared at him more.

"He, she, it. It doesn't matter. It's not like you care if I get into a relationship because I don't exactly see you settling down with anyone. You still have years and years ahead of you, and your only tie is me, and I'm pretty much raised now. Why do I need to keep on repeating something over and over? My life won't be my own at all until I've settled into a SEAL team. I'd rather wait until I'm there and find someone who knows exactly what it's like for my life than to find some rosy-eyed girl who sees my brains and my degrees and tries to change me into something I’m not. That's just going to hurt her feelings, and I'll get the reputation of being an asshole."

"Fine. I'll drop it. For now."

Spencer tucked into the food that Joe had dished up onto a plate and set down in front of him while he had been ranting. It wouldn't be all that bad, but Joe was pushing it more and more. It was horseshit. Joe never wanted a wife while he was a SEAL team, and he had never grabbed one after he had been medically discharged. There had been a lot of time where he would have been able to do that. Spencer didn't know if Joe was worried about Spencer after he was gone, but Joe had a long life in front of him. Joe took care of himself, he ate pretty well for someone who was alone most of the time with Spencer eating most meals on campus because of classes and ROTC.

"How is ROTC going?"

"Well, most of the guys who are still there know that I was doing it at the high school campus not nearly enough picking on me as there had been before. The freshman this year, just look at all of us with stars in their eyes."

"New main instructor this year. How is that going?"

"Still too early to tell."

Spencer didn't mind when the talk turned to silence as they got more into stuffing their faces. Spencer was still a little sore on the whole pushing Spencer to date thing. Spencer was still underage and would be for nearly a month. It wasn't like he wanted to start something with a freshman or someone older. No one interested him at all. Even the few girls who were smart didn't look at Spencer like he was weird when he showed up to advanced classes in his ROTC uniform just weren't interesting to him.

Though there wasn't a guy who interested him either. That was something though that he had already decided that he was never going to act on. Spencer wanted to be a SEAL more than he wanted a person to spend his life with. He didn't want that kind of burden on his mind, be it a woman or a man. There was no reason for him to push himself into something that he didn't want to do for the sake of looking like an average person. He fit in well enough, given his intelligence. He checked out the girls on the volleyball team who were running for training just like the rest of the guys. Yeah, watching their breast bounce and their tight shorts made him horny, but he was still at the point where a stiff breeze that cupped his balls just right got him horny.

Joe had given him the sex talk the first time that he had caught him washing his sheets after a wet dream. It had horrified Spencer a great deal to have that happen, so he had listened and didn't ask a single question until the end of it. Spencer had skipped most of those talks between schooling and Vegas and going to Caltech. Joe had been a little horrified when he realized it. Though, he had been more than shocked when Spencer laid out his own track through puberty and the points he had already hit when Joe had stopped and asked him if there was anything that he needed explained more.

Cleaning up after dinner wasn't hard. Joe cleaned up after himself as he cooked, it was the way that it had always been. A sink of dishwater was waiting for Spencer, and he put the pan the casserole had been in into the water and then grabbed the rest of the dishes to rinse off before putting in the water. The leftovers were in the fridge, a meal for each of them or two for Joe if Spencer didn't get to his quick enough.

Spencer was more than content with the life that he had, the life that he saw himself having. Spencer wasn't all that gung-ho about having a kid. While the chances of him passing on the mental instability we lessened compared to his mother's changes, it was just high enough that Spencer wasn't sure he wanted to play that roulette. While Joe was a great father, Spencer had a decade of bad parenting that was dictating how he would probably raise a child. He really didn't need to be part of that.

Joe would catch on one day that Spencer didn't want that white picket fence and 1.86 kids in that house that was the average. He wanted to just live his life and have fun doing what he wanted. That might change one day, but it wasn't like he couldn't make a kid at any point that he wanted. There wasn't really an age for men procreating like there was for women.

###  _October 1999_

"Doctor Reid," Doctor Norman said as he stepped up to Spencer to shake his hand.

"That's still taking some getting used to."

"Is it just once over?"

"Yes. I went for taking things in tandem more than going for one degree after another. I have two undergrad degrees but only a single Doctorate so far."

"Still, before eighteen. That's great."

Spencer smiled.

"I know that Joe signed her here for her life, but I know that someone could fight that and win."

"Yes. He was given legal custody, but if someone really wanted to fight it, though I have no clue why someone would want to, they could get her released. Why?"

"I'm eighteen today. Legal custody reverts to me. Joe's already started the paperwork, but even if not, there was a clause in what he signed that gave me rights to her no matter what when I turned eighteen. He will still pay for her to stay here and anything else that she needs, but I'll be the contact now."

"Great. We can go to my office and start the paperwork and then you can have a visit with her. She's been looking forward to calling you on your birthday."

"Well, I have the evening, but then I fly back to Pasadena tonight."

"Sure. I'm not trying to force you into anything."

"No. I know that you are not. I just wanted to give you the option. There are a few delivery places that will drop food off out here for staff and the like. It's not as remote as it used to be."

"Thanks."

The paperwork took two hours, and it was lunch by the time that Spencer was done. He made Doctor Norman promise not to tell Diana that he was there, and he would slip away to get lunch and bring it back. Joe had got a rental for Spencer for the trip so Spencer could easily get around. Spencer had been planning on just taking the bus around, but Joe had insisted.

Spencer was an adult. Finally, he could make up his own mind on things, but he knew that part of Joe's issue was wanting to take care of him in the small ways that didn't intrude on the fact that Spencer was an adult. It wasn't nearly as hard for Joe to treat him like an adult as Spencer thought it would be. Joe had been treating him more like an adult than some of the parents of friends that Spencer had met while he worked with the basketball team. Years of helping had made the team better and better, and last year, they had gone all the way to win the highest championship for their division.

The lunch run was quick, and Spencer grabbed two sets of fries for himself, slipping one into the cup holder of the car and eating them while driving back. He finished them off just as he pulled into the Bennington parking lot. Diana was outside, sitting in a chair that was under a tree. There was a table in front of her. Spencer was glad that she had picked there.

"May I join you?" Spencer asked as he laid down the food on the table.

"I don't feel-" Diana looked, and her face split into a smile. "Spencer. Happy birthday, my son."

Spencer walked around the table to give her a hug and to press a kiss into her cheek.

"You are so muscly. You keep on adding more. I knew that working with that man was going to change you. You don't need this to be an academic."

"I like it. It helps to calm my mind so that I can think when things get too much. I've told you this before." Spencer swallowed thickly and gave Diana a smile as he started to divide up the food, and he made sure that he gave her the correct burger.

"Tell me everything about your school year so far."

Spencer launched into a tale that took an hour to tell. Diana's eyes were shining through all of it.

"My instructor was not pleased at all. However, since it wasn't something that I could help, given that it wasn't even my experiment, he just made me wear my hat all the time, and I worked on getting it washed out before line up the next day."

"Instructor, hat?" Diana questioned.

"Yes, ROTC." Spencer knew that he had told her about it in letters.

"You aren't in that in college now, are you?" Diana asked.

"Yes." Spencer grabbed his tea and finished it off before cleaning up all the debris from their shared lunch. Diana's tea was still mostly full, so Spencer left it alone. He got up and walked over to throw away the trash in the can that was outside. He turned around and looked at his mother.

Diana looked pissed off. Spencer walked back over and sat down, ready to get up and leave if she got too bad.

"You joined ROTC in college? He couldn't have made you. You are only in your first-"

"Second. Since I was a month away from seventeen, they let me join last year."

"You are willingly joining that barbarian cult?" Diana hissed.

"Cult is not a word that I would use. No more than academics are. It's a life choice and one that I willingly make. I can do something really good with my degrees as an officer in the Navy." Spencer really didn't want to get into the SEAL thing with her right now. She didn't have the right to tell him that he was doing anything wrong with his life. If he had not pushed and had Joe help him, Spencer would have been so much worse off and probably not nearly as good as he was now. He would probably be timid and someone that didn't do anything.

"You are going to go off and fight in a war over oil rights in a foreign country with no one to mourn you like you deserve. You should be at a desk, learning and growing and becoming the best you can be."

"I will be becoming the best that I can be, mother. I'll uphold the honor that is to be in a place where I can choose what I want to do with my life. Instead of being conscripted into something because I am male, or I have an IQ that I have no control over. My skin color gives me privilege that a lot of other people don't have, but I'm not going to let that stop me from getting what I want from life."

"How are you going to pay off your school working like that? You are going to get paid shit for that."

"I very well might get paid shit, but Joe has already paid off all of my schooling. I'll have a clean slate when I join the Navy. We debated letting the GI bill pay for some, but we both decided that it should go to those who needed it. I don't need it. Even if I decided not to join the Navy as soon as I get the final doctorate that I want, Joe would pay for more schooling for me if it was what I wanted."

"How can that jackbooted thug pay for anything?"

"His parents were some of the biggest entrepreneurs in the country before they died. They left it all to him. He has no desiret to run a business of any size, so he found someone to take over as the CEO for him, and they run it, but he still gets a lot of profits. He could live the rest of his life just off his trust, though with the interest that it gains each month. My education was a drop in the water, and all he did was not donate as much to various charities. I could probably live the rest of my life off of my trust and not work as long as I don't buy too many new cars."

"Spencer, you can't mean this. You want to go into something that makes you kill people."

"Threats. I'll take care of threats." Spencer stood up, he looked at her, and he saw the fear in her eyes. He knew that she feared to lose him in the worst way, but her fear was not enough to keep him back from doing what he wanted. "You have to accept this because if we constantly rehash this, I'll stop visiting you when I can. My life is going to be busy, and not jet setting around the country to see you would make my life easier."

"Spencer, please, just think about what you are doing."

"I have. I've thought of nothing else since the first time that I felt fear that you would hurt me in your delusions. As soon as Joe entered my life, I started to read, to research what I could find. I went into this with eyes wide open. I know what my chances of getting in are. I know what my chance of death is and you know what, I have just as much chance of dying in a car accident that is not even my fault. Of being killed from any other random accident. Life is full of chances, but I can't say that I haven't lived if I haven't actually taken the chances that I want. Good day, Mother."

Spencer turned around and ignored the sound of Diana screaming at him that she wasn't going to mourn him when he died. Doctor Norman didn't look upset where he was standing at the edge of the lawn, more resigned.

"I wondered what visit would set her off. I'll call you at home when she's settled. Are you going straight home?"

"I have no clue." Spencer felt like shit.

"Well, let me know where you land."

"I will." Spencer knew that he had to head home, but he was hours early. He settled into his car and looked at the cell phone that was in the cupholder. It was something that Joe had pressed on him. It was a Nokia, and while it felt small in Spencer's large hands, it allowed Joe to keep in good contact with him. He texted Joe that the visit had not gone well as Diana had found out about his want to join the Navy. Joe sent back a quick sorry and to call when he wanted to talk.

Spencer saw he had a text from Freddie. Boston was playing the Lakers that night, and Freddie had a ticket for him at the box office that would get him back to the locker room as early as he wanted.

* * *

Spencer played with the badge that he was wearing on a lanyard that got him access to the locker room. He was told that everyone should be dressed, and he was more than happy about that. He heard Freddie before he saw anyone on the team.

"No, I'm not kidding. He had played the best pranks on other kids who pissed him off."

Spencer smiled like that because it could only be him that Freddie was talking about.

"Tall, lanky but built like a tank?" a man questioned. He was wearing a jersey, but Spencer wasn't paying attention to his number. He was only looking at Freddie waiting on his friend to see him.

"Yeah. How did-" Freddie stopped and turned to look where his teammate was looking. "You made it!"

"Yeah. Dad and I made dinner last night out for a celebration. There was no reason to stay in Vegas for anything else after Diana made a spectacle about me joining the Navy. So at least watching this will allow me to get a little happy on my birthday."

"You are eighteen today; of course, you need to be happy. So head out. Shae here will show you where you are going to sit."

"I have a seat listing here. I looked at the map."

"Ah, well, see the Girls found out that it was your birthday, and so you are going to sit with them at the baseline."

"I see." Spencer looked at Shae and saw she was dressed in an LA Lakers outfit. "Lakers?"

"Eh, I'll be happy for my little brother sitting with a group of hot women." Freddie walked over and hugged Spencer tightly. "Happy birthday, now go and find a good seat. One of them might even sit on your lap if you asked nicely."

"Fight over sitting in his lap, you mean." Shae reached out and waited for Spencer to nod before she touched his arm. "He's a wonderful specimen of a man. Beautiful and fit. He probably makes love like it's his job."

Spencer felt the blush creep up on his face, but he knew that what Shae said was all for show.

The game went by quickly, and Spencer knew that he was caught on camera a lot. Shae was the only Lakers Girl to sit in his lap and fought off the others to win his affection as it were. Spencer blushed nearly the entire time, and he knew that the guys and girls in ROTC were going to make fun of him a little at it. Still, even with being a little uncomfortable, Spencer knew that it was better than going home and thinking about his mother.

Spencer begged off the after-party as he didn't want to drink, and Freddie just told him that it was fine.

"No, you've always been a straight shooter on that kind of stuff. Especially after that dance. I'm in town tomorrow. We can go to lunch before I ship out back to Boston. Maria does want to meet you, so let me know when you want to come to a game in Boston, and I'll make it happen."

"Sure." Spencer hugged Freddie, smelling the same damned shampoo that he always used. The crush that he used to have tempered into a love like Spencer had for no one else, but it wasn't romantic. Spencer could only categorize it as brotherly love like Freddie said it was. It was still something that he would cherish. Spencer kept the hug for longer than he probably should, feeling tears prickle his eyes.

"How did you get here?"

"Bus. I was going to take a taxi back home."

"Nonsense. I have a car for you." Freddie cupped the back of Spencer's head to force his eyes onto him. "If this sets in and you can't sleep, just call me. I'll gladly stand in the corner at the party and listen to you babble until you go to sleep."

"I haven't had to do that in years," Spencer said. It had happened a few times after Freddie had left. Spencer had been friendless at Caltech for a while, but sticking with the basketball team had made it easy to make a few other friends. None were as close as Freddie, but then Spencer didn't trust easily.

"Yeah, but you are still raw. I can see it in your eyes. If you aren't going to call me, wake up Joe."

"I will." Spencer knew that he would probably have trouble sleeping, and he would talk to Joe if he was awake or Freddie if Joe wasn't. Though Joe was probably waiting up on him. Spencer had texted him, so he had probably watched the game live, seeing Spencer sitting among the cheer squad and blushing the entire time. He was sure that Freddie was going to get a picture as well from the game cameras.

"Be safe," Freddie said as he let Spencer go and waved him toward the car that was behind Spencer.

Spencer turned to look at it and saw that it was thankfully just a typical black sedan. The driver came around and opened up the front door for him. Spencer slipped inside with a muttered thanks. He looked at Freddie, who had already turned around and was talking to one of the other guys on the team. Freddie turned to wave at Spencer just as the car was going. Not for the first time, Spencer wondered what it would have been like to have a sibling, younger or older growing up.

###  _January 2000_

Spencer looked around the football field and saw that there was no one else around. It was just before five am and the field was lit up and ready for those who did run on it. It was open usually at sunrise, but Spencer had never got in trouble for starting his run at five am. It was an office weekend for ROTC, so he had the weekend to do what he wanted. Though what he wanted was a little different than what he was going to do. He had a little schoolwork to do and three new books to read. There was also a lecture that he was debating going to the next day. Profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit were coming to do a recruitment seminar. Jason Gideon and a newer man to the unit named Aaron Hotchner. Spencer had looked into both of them, and Gideon was one of the founders of the BAU. That made it worth going to see along.

Spencer had butted into a few of their profiles and how they were formed while working on his thesis for his criminal justice leadership and management doctorate. There was also a spiral for his criminal psychology degree as well. It was fascinating, and if Spencer hadn't had Joe, he could see himself heading toward the FBI. It was a subject that could keep Spencer's mind engaged for years.

The FBI would be a good backup career if he were still young enough when he got out of the SEALs. Burnout was normal and even medical discharge due to injury. Though there were only a few that would still allow him to be a field agent in the FBI, still, it was a good thing. Even if he couldn't be a field agent, there were agents who consulted with other places from their office in Quantico. It was a good thing and would at least help Spencer feel like he was doing good for the world.

Grabbing his portable music player from his hoodie pocket and unwrapped the headphones from it and slipped them over his head. He found the playlist that he had loaded up for running. It was a hard rock one, not something he usually liked, but it helped him focus when his brain was scrambled a little. He kept up the pace to the thumb of the bass in the songs. There were also a few songs that were considered dance or electronic. All of them set to keep him going for his run. The second playlist was his studying one, and he had classical and some jazz on there. Joe loved jazz music, which was an odd choice for him, but Spencer never asked him why. Joe hadn't offered, so Spencer assumed it was personal.

It was a light weekend, Spencer was going to enjoy what he was doing instead of pushing himself. He didn't want to burn out. He knew what it felt like, and he needed the break from everything. He was going to run until he felt fine, or his battery gave out on his player.

It was an hour later that someone finally joined Spencer on the track. Spencer recognized him from a few classes. Spencer knew his name was Ethan, and he planned on joining the FBI when he graduated. Ethan had tried to talk to him a few times, but Spencer had been nice but uninterested as a whole. Ethan tried, though.

Spencer nodded at Ethan the one time that he passed him going the other direction. Ethan was going against the flow of what people usually ran, and the next time that Spencer passed him, Ethan was going the same direction as Spencer. Spencer ignored the shouted hello, using the cover of his earphones being the reason why. He kept on going, outpacing Ethan even with Spencer having run for an hour before Ethan had joined him.

When another hour was up, Spencer turned off of the track and followed the path to it out of the football stadium. He kept on going until he was near the house. Then he slowed down to start his cooling down. He stretches in the front yard, given a few of the older ladies on the street their early morning fun. Spencer has heard them talking to each other if he's doing the shopping in the store. It hadn't started until after he had turned eighteen. He was grateful for that because he didn't want to think back of the three old ladies who lived in the area.

Spencer wasn't unaware of the way that people looked at him. He was a beautiful person on the outside, and he did look a little older than he was given the muscles that he had on his body. Most teenage boys didn't look like that. Unless they were like him and going for the military or were into sports, but Spencer didn't have the build for most sportspeople. He was too small for that build wise, but he could do just as good as the rest of the guys who were in ROTC that were built like brick houses.

"Hungry?" Joe asked as he stepped onto the front door.

Spencer hadn't even noticed the door opening. He looked at his dad and gave him a smile.

"Sure. I'm starved."

"Good. Good. They are doing a breakfast buffet at the place across town. Get changed, and we will head out to get some breakfast."

"Sure." Spencer rushed into the house and up to his bedroom to shower. Showering was part of changing in his mind, so he knew that Joe wouldn't say a damned thing about it.

By the time that Spencer was tugging on his long-sleeved shirt and walking down the stairs, Joe was in the Jeep. Spencer grabbed his wallet and slipped his ID into it. He didn't run with anything on him except for his ID card slipped into the pocket of his running shorts. Spencer hopped into the Jeep and put on the harness to make sure he didn't fall out. Joe preferred to drive, but days when his leg ached when there was a storm going, Spencer drove. Even though it wasn't his driving leg, the pain sometimes distracted him just enough that he didn't feel safe driving.

"How do you feel today?" Joe asked as he eased out of the driveway

"Pretty good."

"Doctor Norman called to let me know that Diana has forbidden you from visiting her as long as you still choose to join the jackbooted cult."

"I see." Spencer signed and looked out into the neighborhood as they drove out of there. He had tried again to see Diana just two weeks before, and it had not gone well at all. Diana had been put to the point that she had to be sedated just seeing Spencer. Spencer hated that he had done that to her. He had hoped the months away would settle her down. Spencer still wrote a letter to her during the week and mailed it on Monday mornings. He left out everything that was related to ROTC so that he didn't set her off, and it seemed that she had thought that he was going to not go into the Navy anymore because of that.

"I let you hold your silence, but considering that it's you and your mother, but now I need to know because she is trying to fight your ability to control her. I have the lawyers on it, and they are going to temporarily allow Doctor Norman the right to make decisions on her wellness, but it's going before a judge. One of the nurses is a bleeding heart and believes that you are keeping her there when she could live in a better place, a less restricted place. She's been fired, but the damage is done, and a lawyer has taken it up pro-bono. My lawyers are not going to fight anything that has to do with someone else taking over her care. Still, they agree that until this is resolved, Doctor Norman making the decisions is best."

"She's calling the military a cult, as you have probably figured out, but she refuses to believe that I can make the choice on my own on what I wanted to do. When I wanted to become a researcher on diseases and the like, she had no issue with what I wanted to do. That's why I didn't tell her about my degree changes. I just knew that she would say something. I didn't tell her, so I didn't have to try and justify it when I was a child. I kept everything ROTC from her until I was eighteen, so she didn't have a single legal recourse to try and fight anything. She lost custody of me because she didn't see what she was doing was hurting me. Even when she was lucid. She talked about how proud she was at how good I was doing taking care of her, but that was it. I have not been her child for a long time, and she can't accept that."

"Sounds like you have still been trying to be her parent instead of her child."

"I can't do it anymore, either. I need to do what I want to do. If I fail, I fail, it's not like the Navy is going to throw me out. I'll still do something in there. They will find what best fits me. If I get in, I'll make sure that everyone understands how proud I am of being a SEAL. I can't live my life the way that she wants anymore and call myself proud to be your son."

"I'd be proud of you even if you just did six years for your ROTC commitment and then didn't sign up again, Spencer. I don't care what you do. I just want you to be happy."

"And that's why I love you. You aren't trying to change me to fit this image you have in your head. You knew that being around you would change me, but you never forced me. She's trying to force me by withholding her love or something like that. I don't remember her being that manipulative when I was younger, but then I looked at everything with rose-colored glasses when it came to her. I can't keep on living my life like that for her. I need to be able to do what I want as long as I know the consequences of what I am doing."

"I know that you know the consequences. You were there when the last of my team all came for a visit. We all had enough parts broken or missing to make up a whole person. You know what you are getting into, and I knew that before you joined Junior ROTC. There is no reason to push you into something that you don't want."

"I know. I just..." Spencer thumped his head against the seat of the Jeep and sighed. "I don't want to talk about this. I've talked it out in my head too many times. Too many times while taking it out on a heavy bag."

"Then we don't need to. I told you what you needed to know, and you told me what I needed to know. I'll deal with the lawyers, and we will go from there."

"Sure." Spencer saw the parking lot for the restaurant coming up. It wasn't a place that they ate a lot, but every once in a while, the place did a breakfast buffet. It wasn't a standard buffet as everything was kind of made to order in small batches, so sometimes there were no eggs or something like that up there, but it was always damned good and worth the wait. It was a place that Spencer could carb load for the day before weekend things for ROTC or just to help him calm down his feelings with some good comfort food without breaking the bank.

Spencer hadn't worried about money for a long time, only taking jobs here and there when he wanted to save up money to buy Joe something. It was something he didn't worry about, but sometimes, he felt like it was stupid to spend as much money as they could on a meal that they could make for less at home. It would always be there in him, the want to save money. It was something he didn't want to ever forget. Others would be near broke through most of boot camp and the like. Spencer was never going to have to worry about a place to stay. Joe would always make sure that Spencer had a place in his home and that after that, he was cared for.

It was what a father did when they had the means.


	6. Chapter 6

## Chapter 6

###  _September 2001_

REID!" a voice yelled out in the hall of Caltech. It wasn't even six am yet, so Spencer was shocked to see anyone inside of the building besides professors.

Spencer looked around to see who was yelling at him. It was one of the Cadets who was in ROTC with him. They were friendly but not friends. Spencer was on his way to a seven am class after his run but stopped when he realized that Cadet Robinson looked gutted. Spencer double-timed it to him. It was the ROTC Commander's office. Spencer slipped inside to see that they were watching a movie or something. He saw the plane sticking out of a building, and it wasn't until he realized that it was Peter Jennings.

With nowhere to sit, Spencer dropped to the floor and settled there as more and more Cadets entered the room, finding space where they could. Spencer felt a person settle on either side of him, closer than usual. Their combined scents told him that it was Stella Rice and John Saw. Two Cadets from the year below that he was the closest to.

Spencer looked at the room. Everyone had a buddy they were pressed close to, and it didn't have to do with cramp quarters. They all needed a bit of emotional support. Reaching into his pocket, Spencer pulled out his cell phone and saw that Joe had called him five times and had texted to ask where he was. Spencer texted back that he was in the ROTC office watching the horror.

Everyone in the room had grown up during the Gulf War. There were smaller wars that had happened that affected America on the periphery, but this...Spencer could just feel that this was going to change things.

Time lost meaning as the second plane hit the second Tower of the World Trade Center. Spencer looked at his watch. It was just after six. That meant it was nine AM there. Spencer was glad that he had done his run early so he could get over an hour of work done before class that would help him not have as much to do that evening. It was sheer dumb luck that he had been in there. He would have been on the track running normally. He would have come in after this. To find everyone shocked and not understood why. There was something about hearing it and seeing it. Spencer was never going to forget what that looked like.

Spencer understood the words that were being said by the various newscasters as the channel was flipped from one to another. They finally settled on CNN after a few more switches.

No one left, their eyes locked on the screen. Classes didn't matter to Spencer. There weren't a lot of sounds in the hall, so Spencer assumed that classes didn't really matter to a lot of them.

"We've never...not since Pearl," someone in the room said.

"We don't know what it is," someone else says.

"The statistics of this not being something of an attack on American soil, either by Americans or foreign operatives, is under one percent," Spencer said. He stood up, and as soon as he did, Rice and Saw pushed themselves together. "If this was in two different areas at two different times but so close and hitting the Towers...in the middle of New York City."

"Cadet Reid is right," the Commander said.

"My great grandmother used to tell me about Pearl Harbor and how the US felt then. I just never..."

"No one ever thought that we would have another attack on American soil," the Commander said.

There was just silence again. Spencer couldn't help but read the words that were scrolling on the screen with the closed captioning on. It was easier to do that than to watch the destruction on the TV. Still, he couldn't help but look up and see the Towers burning when it swapped to that.

"All flights have been banned," someone said.

Spencer wasn't even sure it was on the TV or someone in the room. He was watching what was on the TV more than paying attention to anything else.

"CNN agrees on foul play," the Commander said a few minutes later.

Spencer knew that anyone with a brain understood that. The reports of hijacking came in next.

President Bush was the next thing on the screen. "Today, we've had a national tragedy," he started. "Two airplanes... have crashed... into the World Trade Center... in an apparent terrorist attack on our country."

A moment of silence was next.

The moment of silence lasted for longer than that to the room. The only sound was breathing. No one was even moving.

Fire at the Pentagon was next. CNN didn't have a lot of coverage of that at first, but slowly more did come in. Then a fire at the National Mall.

"They are coordinated," Spencer said, breaking the silence of the room.

His brain wasn't stopping. Even the news was reporting about the hijacking of the plane that hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It had departed from Boston's Logan Airport.

Osama Bin Laden's name was mentioned next. Still, it was way too early unless Bin Laden was confirming his hand in the attacks.

A roar filled the speakers on the TV, and Spencer watched as a cloud started to envelop the South Tower. The noise got so loud that Spencer felt it in his bones. The TV crew was live and far enough away, but still, it was so damned loud.

"New explosion?"

"Bomb?"

"No," Spencer said as the wind started to clear the area. The Tower is just gone.

"How?"

"The Tower was on fire. That goes up and down. It spreads into everything. I don't know the engineering on the Towers, but planes are heavy, and they both left Boston." Spencer's words were greeted with silence for a few minutes.

"So, a lot of fuel."

"Yes. They would have been full when taking off." Spencer swallowed thickly.

It felt like hours later that the TV showed the North Tower collapsing. Spencer saw through the cloud of dust that there was a portion of it that was still standing, but it fell what seemed like seconds later.

The TV correspondent next brought news that a plane was downed in Pennsylvania. That it was unconfirmed but that there seemed to be another plane headed for the Pentagon.

Evacuations of New York City and Washington DC were ordered, and there was a lot of information trying to be relayed over the news, but most of it was just washing over Spencer as he watched the Towers, where they used to be and the chaos around it.

"DEFCON 3," the Commander said.

"The first since 1973," Spencer said to the silent room.

"Spencer," Joe said from somewhere behind Spencer.

"Sir?" Spencer asked as he turned around and saw Joe in the doorway.

"Come home."

"Spencer," Rice said.

Spencer looked at her and then at Saw before he looked at the Commander.

"I'll make sure that everyone who wants to take off can for the day. I don't think that anyone is really going to push classes today. I expect every single one of you ready for classes tomorrow morning, though."

"Yes, Sir," everyone in the room said.

"Anyone who wants to come home with me can. I'm within walking distance," Spencer said. He checked with Joe that it was fine. Joe nodded his head.

* * *

The TV in the kitchen was on to CNN, and the one in the living room was the same. Joe had never had so many kids in his house. Ten people from Spencer's ROTC unit had come with him home. The pizzas were set to be delivered at eleven. It was the easiest food to order in. No one was hungry at the moment. It was barely eight in the morning, but a local place did breakfast foods and then swapped to pizza and the like for lunch onward. Joe knew that they would gladly deliver that many pizzas to them.

Joe didn't think that he had ever heard that many kids be so quiet while in a house. He wanted to hear the ruckus that they would typically make, but he understood.

The TV in the kitchen had been on since Joe had woken up after Spencer had shut the front door to the house to go on a run. Joe had been drinking his coffee when the first report had crossed the news about a fire at the World Trade Center. Joe hadn't thought much of it until he saw that it wasn't just a fire.

Joe's first look had him feeling numb. The building wasn't just on fire. It had a chunk of it missing, too high up to be a bombing that would be able to be done. The damage was too much for that, as well. Then the word plane was uttered by the first person. A plane had hit the Tower. That was a piece of shitty luck.

CNN was the channel of choice, so Joe had settled on it. The words spoken next would forever be stuck in Joe's memory.

It was Carol Lin, "This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. CNN Center right now is just beginning to work on this story, obviously calling our sources and trying to figure out exactly what happened, but clearly, something relatively devastating happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan. That is once again a picture of one of the towers of the World Trade Center."

Joe's world had never been safe, not like the rest of the world, but he had felt safe here. Here where nothing about anything that was happening around the globe had touched them since Pearl Harbor. Joe had texted Spencer but wasn't shocked that he didn't get a response. Spencer's class wasn't until seven, and he would probably run until time to clean up a little in the lockers and then go to class. He called a few times and then just waited for Spencer to get back to him.

Spencer texts when he finally responded to put Joe on edge, so he went to find his son. Spencer was where he said he was going to be but hadn't noticed Joe at all until after it seemed like for now things were over, and Joe said his name.

The rest of the kids following behind Spencer were not a shock either. What Joe knew of each of them was that they were far from home and didn't have close friends outside of those that they did ROTC with.

Lunch came and went; a few kids left, but the two that Spencer had been standing by in the room at the school were the longest to hold out.

The ringing of the house phone just an hour before Joe needed to figure out dinner scared nearly everyone. Joe even jumped at the shrill sound of it.

"Nutter," Joe said.

"Joe?" a voice asked. It sounded wrecked like it was someone who had bee crying all day long.

"Who is this?" Joe asked. He kept his voice light and soft.

"It's Maria."

Joe closed his eyes. Maria, wife of Richard Deck. There was only a single reason that she would be crying.

"Rich was on the plane that crashed in the field in Pennsylvania," Maria said.

"What?" Joe looked to see that Spencer and the two Cadets left were looking at him.

"He was going to San Fran to see the kids for the weekend, and then he was going to drive to see you before coming home. He was on that plane."

"How do you know?"

"I was on the phone with him before he took over controlling the passengers into taking the plane back or at least crashing it. I told him what else had been going on. Others knew it too."

Joe closed his eyes. If the passengers knew what was going on, he could see them stopping it. It went down after the other three had hit their targets. They might or might not have known the target of it all, but they could assume, just as easy as anyone else, that their lives were not worth the risk of what could happen if they hit their target.

"The South Tower had just gone down and then Rich told me that he loved me and he had to go. I told him it had gone down."

"Where is your sister?"

"She's here. Her husband and kids too. I'm telling my kids to get on a bus and go to you. When everything gets figured out on anything else, you'll bring them here?"

"Of course. I'll drive and grab them. There is no need for them to take a bus. Just don't worry. I'll leave after I eat dinner."

Spencer was looking at Joe, his face impassive. Spencer was still numb, Joe could understand that.

"Text me where they are, and I'll pick them. I'll be in the Jeep." Joe hung up, and Spencer just gave him a weak smile.

"Deck's kids?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, they are at school in San Fran. Deck was going to see them. He was on the plane that crashed into the field."

"Go. Get them. They love their dad. I'll be here. School tomorrow and ROTC things in the afternoon. I'll be content to stay here."

"We'll stay with him," Rice said.

"Good. He's not good alone."

Spencer laughed a little at that, but there was no humor in the lines of his face or in his eyes at all. Joe didn't think there was going to be humor in many people's lives for the next while. Right now, he had someone who needed him. Deck was gone, and his twin kids were stuck across the country for who knows how long. He didn't figure that the planes would be allowed to fly for at least a day or two. He would keep the kids here with him and follow them home to drop them off with their mother. There was a lot to do.

* * *

Spencer sighed as he put his car into park. It had been a week and a half since 9/11, and he was worn out. ROTC wasn't doing anything over the weekend. Joe had been gone all week, so Spencer stayed up late watching the news. Learning what he could about all of it. The emotional landscape of ROTC was vastly changed. No one goofed off as much. They were all a year away from graduating and becoming officers. There was no time to fuck around. Still, Spencer knew that if something didn't give, he at least was going to burn out.

Getting out of the car, Spencer stopped. Joe's Jeep wasn't in the same place it had been. Spencer had dropped Joe and the twins off at the airport the day that flights resumed, and there had been no word on him coming home yet. Spencer slung his backpack over his shoulder and stepped out of the way of the door to shut it before he started up to the house. The smell of pasta sauce greeted Spencer before he even opened the door.

"I'm home," Spencer yelled out before he made his way up the stairs to his bedroom to put up his backpack. He changed out of the clothes he had been wearing all day and into a pair of sleep pants and a warm long-sleeved shirt. It might be September and warm as hell outside, but Spencer still had a bit of that numbness inside of him. He still felt like he needed to dress warmly. It was a strange feeling as he usually only got it when he was in colder climates like the trip that they had taken one winter break at school to Minnesota. Spencer had never been so cold in life, but it had been a good teacher because he had to learn to ignore that kind of stuff to get missions complete.

Joe was dishing up dinner as Spencer entered the kitchen. Spaghetti and meatballs it looked like.

"Smells wonderful."

"I saw the dishes in the drainer and the take out in the fridge."

"ROTC has been hell this week. Though I didn't expect anything less, so I ate prepared salads for dinner and high protein for lunch. Oatmeal for breakfast."

"I know you can cook."

"Yup, when I have the energy to do so. Everyone on campus is looking at us like we are going to all drop dead soon. There are rumors of all of us dropping out of school and joining up to go to war. It's insane. The news is nothing but everything to do with the attack, which I understand, but it all feels like it's too much."

"That's why your weekend trip was canceled?"

"Nope. That was because of some big meetings about campus and ROTC security. It's happening on campus, so most of it will be shut down while they are looking at things. I guess everywhere is freaking out about a lot of things. Caltech was pretty low on the whole totem pole, but the Commander stepped up and offered to get some people in. So I get the weekend off, and you are home, and I think taped games on the couch are in order."

"That does sound really good. I've been making sure that Maria eats. The rest of her family finally made it in as well as the current team that Deck was with. She had more than enough people, and I needed to get home."

"I was doing okay."

Joe settled the plates on the table with the shaker of Parmesan cheese and then the tray of garlic bread before he walked around the table to pull Spencer into a hug. Joe was only two inches shorter than him, but Spencer always felt like Joe was still larger than life, even with his limp.

"I know, but I missed you, kid."

"I missed you too," Spencer said back to Joe. He hugged him tight, reveling in the feel of Joe there in his arms. He was too old to want to sleep in the same room as him, but he felt like the world was collapsing a little and the knowledge that in Joe's bed, nothing would ever happen to him called to him like a siren. Spencer had never actually slept in the same bed as him, but a few times, when the nightmares were so bad, Spencer would grab a sleeping bag and sleep on his floor. Spencer wanted to do that now. "I called Bennington on Sunday Mom refused to talk to me, but I asked Doctor Norman to make sure to tell her that I loved her."

"That's all you can do at a time like this. So you look like you have the world on your shoulders."

"I could technically if I pushed my ass to finish up everything that I need for my degrees before January and then take the exit exams for ROTC and slip right into my commission."

"Is that being offered to others?"

"Across the country, yes? We all know that war is on the horizon as we figure out the full breadth of who had sent this attack. It's not going to just go away. The US is not going to roll over and let the world fuck her like this."

"I'd say language, but you've still not even learned all that you need on that front."

Spencer dug into the food, eating a meatball whole, and enjoying the taste of it on his tongue. Joe's meatballs were the best things in the world. It would be something that he was going to miss when he was away from home for training. He made a mental note to get Joe to make them every single time that Spencer was home. Or at least have some of the sauce in the freezer so he could make it himself.

"So, do you want to do that?"

"I would have to bust my butt, and then I would be worn out before I even join. I just...I feel like I'm hiding, not doing what is needed now."

"Look," Joe said as he steepled his hands and let his fork hang down between his arms. "This is going to take a long time. It's all intelligence now. While the people are screaming for blood and we are all pissed off, everyone who is in control of this will need to make sure that everything is correct before a single move is made. This war isn't going to be heating up until the time that you are joining your first team. You gotta do what is best for you, Spencer. Not what you think is right for everyone else. You owe it to your future team to make sure that you are doing all that you can to make yourself your best for them. Finish school in the time needed and go to BUD/S the best way that you can. The biggest issue with BUD/S is not getting sick. If you are already run down, you are not going to do them a lick of good."

Spencer nodded his head and looked down at his food. He had a feeling that was what Joe was going to tell him, and it's what felt right in his mind but not in his heart, but the heart was a fickle beast with no reason left to it. The heart was what got people in trouble.

"I'll finish up and get my commission and then make sure that I'm headed to BUD/S."

"Good. Now eat, you've lost a few pounds over the last week, and you need to get them back on. You don't have the fat to lose on your body."

"Yes, Sir." Spencer gave Joe a smile, and for the first time since he had seen the first Tower burning, it felt like it might be a real one

###  _May 2002_

Joe watched as Spencer finished up in ROTC for the day. It was a Friday, and they were all just eagerly awaiting the end of the school year so they could all head onto their new lives as officers in the Navy. At least the ones that it was their final year. It was going to be impossible for Spencer to miss the Jeep even though it was his new one. The old Jeep had finally just fallen apart, and it would have been more to fix it than it was worth, and while Joe had loved it, he wasn't that attached, so they had gone shopping to buy a new one. It had been easy for Joe to pick out a new one, this time a gunmetal grey that he loved.

It wasn't long before more of the squad piled out of the locker rooms. Every single kid in the group was changed in ways that Joe didn't think they would ever be able to recover from. Spencer was the least, but he was still jaded by the war that had started up when all of America had lost its innocence with the attack on the Towers.

The war was still just kind of starting with intelligence being gathered but not given out. Troops were moving around the board in a way that no one understood outside of those who were moving them. Operation Enduring Freedom was the official name for the war on terror that was being staged around the world. The attacks might have happened on American soil, but it was evident that it could happen anywhere at any time, with many of the places a hell of a lot closer than US soil.

Joe itched to be back out there, fighting, even though he had no way of doing it. He wasn't ever going to be one of the recalled retired soldiers for the war. For the first time since he had accepted that his career in the teams was over, he hated his leg and the bomb that had caused it.

Spencer came out of the locker room that he always came out of. His eyes moved around the field in front of him, and he paused as he took in Joe in the Jeep. There was a frown on his face, and Joe knew that he didn't like it when his routine was messed up. Spencer had stopped at home and dropped off all of his things before he had gone back to campus for ROTC. He literally just had his clothes thrown over his arm from the drill. He was dressed in his regular street clothes.

It was only a few minutes before Spencer was laying his clothes in the back seat to be cleaned before he grabbed the bar at the top of the Jeep and pulled himself up to drop down into the seat. The harness was just a second later. Spencer never got into a vehicle without strapping himself into it. Even when he had bruised ribs from a training accident with hand to hand.

"So. How is the end?" Joe asked.

"Good. Why?" Spencer side-eyed Joe, and Joe knew that he was a little off-kilter by Joe being there waiting for him. Joe hadn't done that since he had turned eighteen unless Spencer knew if they had somewhere to be, and Joe didn't want him to walk home and get distracted.

"We are going to go on a drive. I have dinner packed in the cooler. And beer."

Spencer turned his head all the way around to look at him.

"You are over halfway through the year to twenty-one, and two beers are not going to get you drunk. I only have one, but I figure that with what I want to talk about, having the beers will be better than not having them. I have plenty of water as well."

Joe didn't keep up chatter as he drove, but Spencer went over his day in classes and working on the last of his thesis to get his last doctorate. Joe had never been more proud of him at that moment. Spencer had done so much to make sure that he had everything that he thought he would need to be a help to whatever SEAL team took him.

The outlook that was a little way outside of the city was a good place. It was home to young couples who were wanting a little risk to their encounters at night, but during the day, tourists and such could be seen taking a trip there.

"So. You want to talk, and normally we go to a diner and eat so obviously you don't want someone overhearing us, so what's up?" Spencer asked as he unbuckled and turned to grab the cooler. He grabbed a bag of chips that was inside. Joe had made sure to pack snacks for Spencer as he was going to want a snack before they ate dinner.

"There are two things that I want to talk about. The first isn't nearly as secretive as the second. You are getting ready to head into something that you'll have a lot of chances to have me come and visit, at least at certain stages. Graduation and the like. Here in Pasadena, it's not exactly something that is that important, keeping who I am hidden. No one knows me here. Al's kept that quiet, and on paperwork, it's just my name and phone number. Once you join up and then start to get looked into once you are on a team, it's going to be harder to keep who I am a secret. So how we play that is up to you. I've gone to a few SEAL things, and I can easily do that for your things. It's not a big thing for some of us to want to see the kids who are heading out into the world to wreak havoc. Everyone who has joined up and will be joining up is going to have more want to do damage than sense. That's why we need good officers. You and yours are going to be that force of good."

"I don't mind people knowing who you are to me, but I know that things will be easier in some ways but much, much harder if it's known that you are my father."

"The last name thing will help, but I don't want to put you in a position where you think that I am going to damage your career. I'd rather have you get it on your own two feet than to hide in my shadow all through training."

"Then the night that I go drinking with my team, you come and crash it."

"That sounds like a plan."

"So, what is the other thing?" Spencer asked.

"You people watch a lot. You don't focus on any one person, but I've seen you Spencer throughout the years. I know even though you have never told me what your sexuality is."

"What do you think that it is?" Spencer asked. He was still eating chips like it was no big deal.

Joe didn't see any lines of unhappiness in Spencer's body. He was chill and moving like he usually would. His breathing was not sped up at all or even slowed down. He was calm as fuck. Joe kind of hated it. That Spencer was as calm as he was.

"Gay."

"My crush on Freddie was not hidden from you at all. Then you've, I guess, never paid attention to the erection I sport when I watched the volleyball team at Junior ROTC practice. I think that I pretty much like anything that moves as a sexual object but someone that I connect with? I haven't found anyone. I've never had someone that I want to spend more time with, in a romantic way. I know I'm young, but I do meet a lot of people. Freddie's crush lasted only a short period of time. Though I think it was more because he was easy to do it to. I was already weird around him. I was already that kid who was weird, and he still didn't hate me. It was safe to have a crush on him. I could act stupid, and he wouldn't hate me. I'm also fairly certain that he knew that I had a crush on him."

"Is that why he gave you the car?"

"Not really. He didn't want me driving the Amazon, even if we did get it rebuilt."

"Why?"

"It was mom's. Yeah, I took it over and such, but I had such a love and hate relationship with the car. I'm glad that I finally let it go and sold it to that collector who rebuilds cars in his spare time, but I just...it was hard to let it go. We had good times in that car before she got to where it wasn’t safe for her drive, and she had to take the bus. It felt like I was a failure. I wanted to cure Schizophrenia, did you know that? That's what I wanted to do, and then I grew up, and I understood that it wasn't what my passion was. I haven't found my passion, but I enjoy what I do in ROTC. I think that once I hit officer, I'll like what I do better. I'll be happy, and that's good enough for me."

"What about hiding half of who you are?"

"Why does it matter? I can leer at women enough, and it's not like I don't understand how to act around a bunch of men to make them think that I am not checking them out as well. No one that I'm with in training is going to tempt me enough to do something as stupid as to hit on them. I don't want a person to come home to, Joe. That might change one day, and then I'll resign my commission if I think I want a guy or I'll marry the girl, and everything will be just fine. I'm not giving up half of myself to join the Navy, not as I am currently looking at it. I'll be happy enough."

"A father doesn't want just happy enough for their kid, Spencer."

"I have no clue what I even want out of a partner. At the moment, I'm perfectly happy with my right or left hand and a visual in my head. You know there are kids who are the products of divorce who never want to marry again just like there are kids who have parents who love each other so much that they want to wait for that kind of love, but they never find it."

Joe gave Spencer a glare. Joe knew that it would just be thrown back at him, but he was happy with his life. He didn't need a wife to make him happy. He let it go, finally. He knew that the worry that he had for Spencer and Spencer being alone wasn't something that he needed to do. Spencer wasn't one to deny himself something that he really wanted.

"I'll let it rest, but just remember that you can talk to me. If the talk of homosexuals or bisexuals and the hatred of them in the teams gets to be too much. I'm pretty forward-thinking, but there were a few men on my team that even I didn't like how they thought about people who were anything but straight. Then there were the members that didn't care as long as that gay man didn't hit on them."

"I know that it can be toxic, but that's not going to change until it's changed from within. Don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue, don't harass might be the party line, but we both know that the pursue and harass parts are regularly ignored. I'll walk that line easily, and if I survived puberty in ROTC, I'll get through this. At least I like the female form and a one-night stand here, and there would do a lot to make sure that I'm not harassed or pursued as far as that goes. The egghead vibe that I give off will help as well as long as I make sure that I leer enough."

Joe laughed, and he knew that Spencer was good at hiding away. He had done good for a year when he was a child until someone had stepped in that cared enough to make sure that Spencer felt safe enough to come out. Spencer crumpled the bag of chips and slipped it into the trash bag that Joe had hanging off the gear shift. He reached back for the beers, grabbing one each. He popped the top off of both before handing one to Joe. Joe held his out, and Spencer tipped his off of Spencer's before looking out at the city below them.

Even if something happened to Spencer and he was outed, Joe would make sure that he was protected. Joe wasn't going to lose him to something like that.


	7. Chapter 7

## Chapter 7

###  _June 2002_

Joe looked at Spencer, whose eyes were focused on the city around them. Spencer was enthralled, Joe couldn't figure out a better word, with London. The city was dreary and wet, but still, there was a happiness to Spencer's features. It was the last little vacation that Joe was going to be able to take with Spencer when he still had a bit of innocence around him. Joe knew what he was going to be like when he got through BUD/S. He still might have a little bit of innocence around him, but there wasn't going to be a lot of it left. That innocence was going to go the rest of the way when Spencer killed for the first time. It was the only thing that Joe wished Spencer didn't have to do, kill someone. It was a forgone conclusion, though, and it was something that Joe had made sure that Spencer had a well developed enough mind when it came to that to be able to do it and not freak the fuck out.

A little manipulation on when Spencer was going to the BUD/S prep course in Illinois, and Joe had enough time with Spencer for a vacation as well as his plans for late July. Spencer was to report to Illinois on August fifth. Joe found that he wasn't ready to let go of him just yet. He had been planning this vacation since Spencer had been talking to Freddie one night after Boston did well in the finals for basketball. It had been years in the making, but Joe just hoped that it was as fun for Spencer as he thought it was going to be.

It was going to be a feast of the eyes and brain for someone like Spencer. Joe had a few things planned for just himself, something to give Spencer time to do a few things on his own. Spencer was an adult, and as much as Joe wanted this to be a fun trip, he didn't want to put pressure on Spencer to act like Joe wanted him to.

"What are we doing first?"

"Getting checked into the hotel and then finding a good pub with greasy food and getting you a few good drinks."

Spencer gave Joe a weird look for a few seconds before he smiled. "That's right. The drinking age is eighteen here."

"Yup. Fish and chips and a good lager." Joe smiled as the cab pulled up in front of the hotel that Joe had picked. For the most part, they were going to take cabs or the bus all over London, but a few excursions that Joe had planned outside of the city involved getting a car. Joe had enough training on driving on the other side of the road that he didn't feel like he was going to have an issue. Spencer would learn fast, and Joe would make sure to give him some time to drive that way as well. It would be another thing that Spencer wouldn't have to focus on during training. He would be tested for it, and once he passed, it would be simple to move him onto the next bit of training when it came to driving.

Getting settled into the rooms and then making sure that things were ready for them to basically collapse into bed when they got back was the work of minutes. They were both efficient about what they did. For Joe, it was training that was never going to leave him, and for Spencer, it was training that Joe had given him to make sure that he didn't have that lacking when he entered the prep course.

"So Ensign Reid, how do you feel about finding a good lager."

"I want a place that serves Guinness the correct way and has all of the training."

"I'm sure that we will find just such a place. I'll ask at the front desk. Come down when you are ready."

Spencer nodded his head as he stacked his books that they had stopped and bought at a lovely bookstore on the way from the airport. Joe figured that Spencer would have them read and donated to something before the first week of their trip was over. Probably earlier than that.

Joe left the room with his key and walked to the elevator. Spencer would take the stairs now that he didn't have a lot of things to carry, and Joe would love to take the stairs, but it was going to be hell to do just the simple sightseeing here, and he didn't need to push his leg. He had already made sure that his VA doctor gave him the pills that he needed to survive this with as little pain as possible as well as sleeping pills just in case the pain was too much. Joe wanted this to be fun for Spencer. He wasn't so gone with his leg that he didn't know how to manage it to get what he could out of it. He just preferred not to be drugged to hell when he was home.

Spencer came down, walking like a soldier. It was still strange to see the gangly kid that he had been working with when he first met him turned into this. He was going to only get more dangerous as he trained. Idiots were going to find that he wasn't an easy target. Even the officers in the teams were someone to be scared of.

"Find us a place to eat?" Spencer asked.

"Yup. I have seven different pubs, and we can do fish and chips at each and see which one is the best as well as the best place for sushi in the area."

"Great. Sushi for lunch tomorrow. I'm dying for it."

Joe laughed and ruffled Spencer's hair. It was short like it needed to be for BUD/S, but Joe missed the floppy hair that he used to have when he was younger.

The city was still busy as hell, but the pub that they were heading to was in walking distance, which was a good thing as traffic was a nightmare. The pub was busy, but there was an empty three-person table that Spencer claimed quickly, giving Joe time to amble through the crowd without hurting his leg more. He slipped into the seat just as the menu was being slipped onto the table by the waitress. She looked down at Joe's leg and then at Spencer. Spencer handed over his passport that had his birthday on it. He had his driver's license on him, but the passport was easier and less likely to be faked.

"You'll get his drinks?" the waitress asked.

"Yes, Ma'am. I know we gotta go to the bar to get them."

"Good. I don't mind helping those who are alone, but you are more than fit."

"Oh, for sure." Spencer winked at her.

The waitress was young. Joe would put her at a few years older than Spencer, middle twenties. Her eyes raked over Spencer's body as she took their first drink order while they looked at the menu. Joe saw a few things on there that were good options if they came back and a dessert that he knew Spencer would want to try before they left that night. Spencer ordered his Guinness, and when the waitress was back, he ordered the double fish and chips platter. Joe just got the single and would steal a few fries from Spencer. Despite his size, Spencer still packed on food. He had a high metabolism, and even when he wasn't actively working out every single day, he was doing something. Joe fully expected to find him doing a routine of some kind in the hotel room when he woke up the next morning. They were both tired as hell, choosing to stay up despite it being night back home in California when they had arrived in London.

"Oh," Spencer said after he took a sip of his Guinness. Spencer's fascination with dark beers was interesting as given how he drank his coffee, Joe would have thought he would want something a little sweeter. Yet, Spencer loved beer.

"Good?" Joe asked. He sipped at his, and he found that it was good. It tasted different than the Guinness back home. Joe wondered if that was true, or it was something that was just because they were in London, and Joe thought it tasted different. He easily drank down about a quarter of his while Spencer just nodded and started to people watch.

Joe watched Spencer. He could tell by the way that Spencer's eyes flicked back to him a few times that he was aware of Joe watching him.

"So, I'm going to go back to the hotel and rest after this. Why don't you see if there is any nightlife that you want to see around?" Joe hoped that Spencer let go some on the trip and got a little fun in before his life became not fun through his training.

"Sure. I'm tired but not that tired. What time are we leaving in the morning for whatever you have planned?"

"Seven. Time for breakfast and to look around a little while we make it to the National Gallery. It opens at ten."

"Sounds good." Spencer smiled, and Joe looked to see their waitress come back with their food in hand. They both waited until both platters were dropped on the table before tucking into their food. Spencer started to make a happy, humming noise that Joe knew meant that he was more than happy with the food that was in front of him.

Talking was limited to what they were eating and how they found it. Spencer got them both a refill on the beer before they were finished. The pub was lively but nothing like the bars back home. Joe really liked it, and he would have to see about finding places like it back home to visit, even if he had to drive a while to get to it. He was going to have a lot of free time on his hands. He had even been thinking about opening up a place of his own, doing what he had no clue, but he wanted to see if Spencer ended up on the east or west coast for his team. There was the ability to open up anything that he wanted using the business. Francis had tried a few times to get him to do something like it, but once Joe had taken in Spencer, Spencer had been his focus. He nearly had him where Spencer didn't need to be that focus anymore. Joe was feeling out of sorts. Too much out of sorts for how close Spencer was to leaving the nest.

Joe would always have a place for Spencer to lay his head. He knew how it was to know that home was safe, and there was a place you were wanted when you got back from spin-ups and tours of duty that lasted longer. There were a lot of reasons why even though marriages failed, soldiers kept on trying to make it work.

Dinner was done, and the tab was paid for. Joe had made sure to have more than enough money changed in before they even landed in London and the ability to get more in paper and coin. There were always the credit cards that he had, but Joe was more than willing to pay cash as much as possible. A few travelers' checks were stored in his suitcase in little hidden pockets. Spencer had the card that had access to Spencer's bank account on him and more than enough cash as well.

"I'm going to head back. Don't make me come and bail you out your first night alone in London."

"Yes, Sir," Spencer said with a cheeky grin as he watched Joe turn around and leave. Spencer let his eyes wander around the room, trying to find the waitress again. He had noticed her eyes not leaving his body all that much when she walked by to drop off food to the other customers.

Spencer got up and walked to the bar, settling in there on a stool so the table could be used for those who were eating in a party of more than one. The bartender got him another beer, and Spencer sipped at it. He had more than enough food in his gut to help him not get drunk. He had already gone through a few exercises to track how tipsy he was, and it wasn't that bad. It was interesting to watch people. They were all humans, but Spencer could tell the visitors like him and the ones that called London home.

"You like watching people?" the waitress asked as she slipped up to lean against the counter beside Spencer.

"I do. It's fun. Especially since I'm seeing new people and new body language."

"I'm off in an hour. After I finish up, I go to a club a block and a half away. Buy me a drink, and I might let you get your head under my skirt."

"Really? That's all it's going to take?"

"You seem like you have a talented tongue, that will be more than enough to make it worth it. Besides, I do like to make sure that people enjoy coming to London, and you are not bad on the eyes at all."

"I've heard that more than once. Half an hour. I'll stick to water at the club. I'll be around the bar there." Spencer downed his beer, not drinking nearly as fast as he could.

"The name is Amelia."

"Spencer," Spencer said as he set down his Guinness. Amelia gave him a smile and then nodded before slipping away to take an order.

Slipping outside, the air was muggy, but it felt good to Spencer. Sex was something to have fun with. He never did anything more than a single encounter with a woman and never touched a man. It had been easy to find a partner in ROTC. Unless the girl was in a good relationship, they didn't want strings attached. So that was the only time that Spencer went back to the same girl a second or third, or sometimes more than three times.

Thankfully, even academics at Caltech wanted to get off and not have strings. No one wanted to have work stolen or egos bruised when a relationship soured. It had taken a while for Spencer to find the right people that were open to that. Too many were too scared of him and his degrees and Joe. Still, sex could be fun.

Spencer would at least know that she wasn't going to pine after him when he was gone. There was a store on the way that Spencer stopped at, grabbing a pack of condoms. That was one thing that Joe had pushed on him, to always bring his own contraceptive item to sexual encounters.

The club was loud, and even just the beat of the music made Spencer's blood rush. Amelia was beautiful-looking, and so far, she didn't seem to be that much of a horrible person. He understood having a persona at work. Friendly but curt, making sure that not every single Tom, Dick, or Harry hit on her for the night.

Spencer people watched as he drank on the bottle of water that he had paid for. It was a much younger crowd here. There was no food, just music, alcohol, and the press of bodies dancing. It was the place to find a hookup for the night, not the love of your life. It was perfect for Spencer.

"Fuck you look good like that, judging people for who they are dancing with," Amelia said as she slipped up behind Spencer. That way was the staff entrance, it was why Spencer had set himself where he had on the bar.

"There are so many here that are dancing with people that are out of the league. I see more than one uni kid who has no hope of keeping the girl's attention for longer than it takes to scratch her itch and women who are so unsure of themselves that they are going to go home with a guy who hates women for not putting out."

"Interesting from someone your age." Amelia walked around to where she had her back to most of the club and was facing Spencer.

"I had good teaching on a few aspects of understanding people."

"Your dad?"

"Yeah. Years with the SEALs. He's good at reading people cold, at least well enough to understand who they are."

"Is that what you are doing here? One last hurrah before going into the service?"

Spencer looked at Amelia's face as he waved down the bartender. She didn't seem like she was upset. The bartender took her order, and Spencer grinned at the simple drink. When he came back with it, Spencer handed over the money as well as a good tip. Amelia downed it in a single go, it was a scotch worthy of that, not sipping.

"My father was in the Air Force here. Retired out when he hit retirement age. I would have joined, but I have a heart issue that makes it impossible for me to serve. So I'm working on a doctorate in computer sciences and am going to join him at the company he works for. I wait tables to learn a good work ethic before entering the job field all the way."

"That's a good way of looking at things. I start boot camp in August, so Dad wants to have a good trip under our belt before I'm lost to training for years."

"You aren't some geek nerd who’s a virgin are you?"

"No. Not a virgin, but the geek and nerd thing is very true. I'm sure I can still service you enough that you'll have a good time."

"Good. Dance with me." Amelia held out her hand, and as soon as Spencer put his hand into her, she pulled him onto the dance floor.

The music picked up the pace, and Spencer lost himself in the grind of body on body. The scent of her arousal filled the space around them, it was tangy in a way that made Spencer's blood pump in his veins. When the song changed, Spencer pulled her closer to him, his hand slipping under her skirt. She had changed from her work clothes into something that was sinful on her body, a tight shirt and a pleated skirt that lifted up when she spun but not so high anyone could see under it.

Amelia didn't stop Spencer's hand, even when he hit where her panty line should have been. Spencer kept on going until he hit the hem of the skirt. She wasn't wearing any underwear at all.

"Come on, big guy," Amelia said as she leaned in and brushed her lips over his. Spencer trailed a hand up her side and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her in for a better kiss as he started to move them toward the edge of the dance floor.

Amelia took charge of the kiss and started to rub her body against Spencer's. He grabbed onto her hips and lifted her up. She willingly wrapped her legs around Spencer's waist. The height difference between them was only a few inches, she was rather tall for a woman, and Spencer really liked that.

"So how did you come in the employee entrance?"

"I didn't say I worked one job. I work two part-time ones. I help manage this place two nights a week when the other manager is off. He's on the dance floor, and I have the key to the office. Down the hallway and the door locks."

"Is that why we came here?"

"Yup." Amelia popped the P in the word before she leaned in to kiss Spencer again.

Spencer walked them down the hall, pressing her into the wall beside the door that had the word office stenciled in a violent glow in the dark green color. It was interesting to see it glowing like it was. Amelia pulled out a key from the pocket on her skirt and handed it over to Spencer. The door opened easily, and the light was on, even though no one was inside. There was a computer on the desk, but Spencer saw the couch that was at the back of the room.

The table that was close obviously meant that work was done from there. Spencer knelt on the edge of the couch and settled Amelia down onto it. As he started to slip down her body, Amelia pulled him up and into a kiss.

"Make me wet," Amelia said as she released Spencer's mouth.

Spencer pulled back and watched as she got her shirt off. Her breasts were barely contained by her bra, they were both more than a handful. Big but not big enough that they got in the way. The bra opened in the front, but it wasn't like Spencer could just ease that breast out of the cup of the bra. Spencer got a hold of Amelia's hips and pulled her down and to the side so that she was resting her head on the arm of the couch, but she was mostly lengthy ways down it. One of her legs slipped off of the couch, and her shirt ruffled. Spencer rolled her skirt up to where it wasn't in the way of him kissing her anywhere that he wanted.

"You are already wet, but I'll gladly make you wetter." Spencer kissed the top of her mound before kissing up her stomach. She inhaled when he nipped right below her rib and used a hand to ease a breast up and out of her bra, his tongue running over her nipple with a sure stroke before he dipped a finger into her folds. He rubbed over her hole but didn't push inside at all.

Amelia grabbed the back of Spencer's head and kept him right there at her breast, nipple in his mouth before he sucked a few times and kept up the rubbing of his finger, adding a second. She was going to have a wet spot on her skirt if he didn't move it out of the way. He didn't find that he cared if anyone saw the wet spot, and if she did, she could move it out of the way.

"Fuck, do that again," Amelia said as Spencer grazed his teeth over her nipple.

Spencer let go of her breast and worked on opening her bra up. He felt the near snap of it when the last was undone.

"Fuck," Amelia said. She spread her leg out, tucking the one on the couch against the back, giving Spencer was much room as she could where they were.

Amelia's body tensed a little when Spencer turned his hand and swiped his thumb over her hole before starting to push in. He froze a little and waited to see what she wanted him not to do. He wasn't anywhere near her crack with his other fingers. He swapped from one nipple to the other, using his free hand to rub over her soaked nipple to keep her aroused.

"I don't like penetrative sex," Amelia said.

Spencer pulled his thumb free from her hole and let go of her breast with his mouth. He looked up at her face and grinned at her before pushing up to kiss her. Spencer worked her clit with his thumb as he kissed her.

"I don't mind fingers, but like two."

"And tongue?"

"I love tongue on my vulva," Amelia said.

"Good. What about going down on me? I have condoms."

"You clean?" Amelia asked.

"Yes."

"Good, so am I. I don't need a condom to go down on you unless you want me to. I do have dental dams in the drawer, as well. We keep a full range of sex supplies in the office. The other manager and I don't engage in sex on shift, but when we aren't working, we gladly bring back trysts to have fun with."

"Good, and I trust you, I shouldn't, but I'm a pretty good judge of character." Spencer started to kiss down her chest and stomach. He pressed a single kiss to each nipple before going down lower. He used a hand to tip her hips up a little to where he had a good angle, her leg pressed to the couch, slipped back, opening her up just a little bit more.

Amelia tasted a little sweet, the tang of her arousal was in full strength at her core, and Spencer loved making her moan like she was. She came with a breathy moan and her whole body clenching. Spencer kept on with the gentle rocking of his two fingers inside of her and the working of his tongue until she was slumped down onto the couch in a limp mess.

Oral sex was great, there was little chance of accidents, and sometimes it felt better than penetration. Spencer watched Amelia as she came back to the world, her body coming under her control. He could feel his erection straining against his pants but didn't care much about that. Even if he didn't get head.

"Come here," Amelia said as she pulled on Spencer's hair as well as she could with how short it was. She held Spencer still and licked up her juices from where they were on his lips and chin.

That shouldn't be as erotic as it was, and it made Spencer groan as his cock jerked in his pants. When she was done, Amelia grabbed Spencer's pants and started to work them open, freeing his cock. Her hand was warm even as his closed over his flesh. It had been a little while since someone had stroked him like that. It was usually a quick and easy fuck with someone in the class with little foreplay and just a lot of rutting.

There was nothing wrong with that, but sometimes the foreplay was fun.

"How do you want me?" Amelia asked when she finally let go of his mouth.

Kissing was a hell of a lot of fun, and for a few seconds, Spencer thought about letting her just keep on kissing him and using her hand to get him off. The draw of that mouth wrapped around his cock, though, was more than he wanted to say no to. Spencer used a hand to prop himself up to where he wasn't on top of her for a few seconds as he got his hand under her lower back, fingers brushing the hem of her skirt.

Spencer rolled them, dropping his back on the couch while she fell on top of him. She screamed but laughed as she fully landed on him.

"Fucking hell, that shouldn't be as hot as it is," Amelia said as she pushed up to prop her hands on his chest.

"I live to serve, Ma'am," Spencer said.

The laugh that echoed around the room even made Spencer's cock twitch. Yeah, he needed this more than he thought. Amelia wasted no time in slipping down Spencer's body and sucking his cock into her mouth. Spencer enjoyed the feel of the wet warmth before she was sucking him all the way down and swallowing around the head of his cock.

Spencer would have loved to have lasted longer than he did, but he couldn't. She was damned good at sucking cock, and he spilled down her throat sooner than he wanted. Amelia even tucked Spencer back into his underwear and zipped up his pants before moving up his body. Spencer pulled her into a kiss, not even hesitating to tangle his tongue with hers. Spencer found her thighs and trailed his hands up her legs until he could grip her hips to rock her body into his a little bit. She moaned into the kiss. She was ready to go again.

"So how long can we stay in here and have sex?" Spencer asked. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that he had about an hour before he needed to head back to the hotel.

"However long you want." Amelia braced herself up on Spencer's chest again, looking down at him. She was grinning wickedly. "How long do you have before you have to go back to your hotel?"

"About an hour and a half if I want to be ready for our sightseeing tomorrow."

"We can do a lot of things in an hour and a half."

"Yup." Spencer wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her down just enough to where he could suck her nipple into his mouth at the same time that his free hand found her folds. "Starting now."

"Your fucking fingers."

Spencer slipped the fingers back and into her, finding her spot inside. He felt her shudder and the wet spread just a little more. He wanted to get his mouth on her again, lick up the evidence of the pleasure that he gave her. Maybe soon. Right now, this was nice, seeing her giving in to the pleasure.

###  _July 2002_

"So why are we camping?" Spencer asked Joe as he dropped down to sit beside him at the roaring fire that was going strong for the night. It wasn't cold at all. It was July in Oregon, and there was nothing around them for miles and miles. Spencer wasn't even sure that they should be where they were, but he wasn't going to question Joe on that. The park was well used by them for weekend camping trips over the years, so Spencer knew the feel of the place. He loved it.

"You love camping."

"Yes, I do, but we just got back from a month in London. It's two weeks until I ship out for prep."

"It's good for you to get out and into nature to relax."

Spencer looked at Joe and frowned. Joe didn't lie to Spencer. He never had. It was strange to see him lie a little bit. It wasn't something that Spencer could pin down, though.

"I had enough relaxation on the trip to London."

Joe snorted.

Spencer knew that Joe knew precisely why he had slipped out near every single night and came back smelling like sex. Amelia had been fun for the month. Even if they didn't slip into the office of the club and have sex, dancing and just letting go had been fun. Joe hadn't been sure what to think about Spencer's change, but then Joe wasn't one for sex that wasn't within a committed relationship. Spencer had no want of one of those, and so he played around. Though Joe's committed relationships from years before fizzled out of him, not wanting something more out of it all.

"You sowed your wild oats enough in London to make a field big enough to feed an entire country."

"Hey, she knew what she was getting into. She's been perfectly fine with me leaving. There was no love at all between us, just really good orgasms."

"I'm not sure I like you now that you are having sex," Joe said.

"You love me no matter what, and the loss of my virginity has nothing to do with that at all." Spencer grabbed his grilled cheese and folded it in half before eating it. It was just warm enough that the cheese was still melty and started to ooze out, but not enough that he’d burn his mouth. He licked up the oozing cheese and wolfed down the sandwich before grabbing the bag of chips and dumping some onto the plate. The pickle spear was grabbed next and consumed. He was hungry after a day of hiking around to look at the waterfalls made by the local rivers and streams that ran through the park. It was interesting to see how different Oregon was from California.

"You never told me how the eye appointment went."

"No changes in the range of my sight or in the area that had surgery. The scans show that the muscles and everything around it are still fine, and there is no build-up of scar tissue inside anywhere. I know that I'll get a physical at prep course, but it's nice to know that at least that won't get me kicked out."

"There is nothing that you have done that will get you kicked out."

Spencer nodded his agreement to that. There was nothing that Joe knew about that would get him kicked out. The things that Joe didn't know about that happened in London, those didn't need to be mentioned again. Even Amelia didn't bring it up in her emails to him. She knew that she couldn't, not without ruining his chances of staying in the military. There was also the added benefit of having a long-distance friends-with-benefits relationship with a woman would make sure that no one questioned that Spencer liked men as well.

"You are sassier,"

"Eh, I'm not beat down by school and ROTC," Spencer said.

Joe laughed, and he grabbed the chips from Spencer when he handed them over.

Spencer watched Joe as he ate his dinner. It was simple food that could be cooked quickly over the fire, and Spencer loved it. Grilled cheese was his favorite thing to eat while camping. It was enjoyable as a camp food, but then the cheese was easy, and the bread was stupid simple to cart along. There was other fare like burgers that were kept in the cooler, but the simpleness of grilled cheese was the best thing in the world to Spencer.

"We are heading out early in the morning," Joe said.

"Sure." Spencer nodded his head and reached for the pickle jar to snag another. He ate it and then grabbed his final grilled cheese from the pan that was close to the fire. He laughed as Joe's last sandwich dripped on him. Joe cursed a little as hot cheese was not good in the meat between pointer finger and thumb.

Dinner was cleaned up, and the fire banked for the night before they bedded down. They each had a tent as Joe didn't need Spencer hitting his leg. They had done that all of one time before Joe bought a second tent to have Spencer sleep in. The tent had been traded for a much bigger one when Spencer shot up to over six feet.

Spencer loved the sound of the insects and the animals that lived in the park as they went back to their lives, aware that humans were close, but the humans weren't moving, so they were not a threat anymore.

Spencer drifted off to sleep, looking forward to grits for breakfast and then a hike through the woods.

"WAKE-UP!" Joe screamed.

Spencer shot up in bed. He was just in his boxers, but he scrambled out of the tent, and toward there, Joe was standing by the dead fire. He was dressed and ready for the day.

"Sir?" Spencer asked.

"Get dressed. We move out in ten minutes."

Spencer looked around. The sun was still set, and there was only a little bit of light from the moon and the stars. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on. Joe said hike in the morning. It wasn't morning yet. Not really. Looking at his watch, Spencer pressed the button to get it to light up. It was four in the morning. So not as early as Spencer thought it was.

"Why the hell aren't you moving, Ensign?" Joe demanded, and Spencer knew exactly what this was.

Fuck.

* * *

Spencer dropped down into the water of the lake, and he was pretty sure that he was dead. He felt the cold water on his skin, and after a few seconds, he swam up to the surface of the water. He looked up at the moon in the sky. His body felt like it was dying on its own without a single okay from him. His mind, though, was ready and raring to go for a few more hours. He wasn't going to, though. He knew that as soon as his muscle stopped aching and his body felt clean, he was going to drop like a rock.

The water was cold from the night creeping up on it but not cold enough where he was worried about getting too chilly. Spencer swam to the edge of the dock and grabbed the bar of soap, and he used it to quickly clean off his body. He was just mainly worried about the worst of the worst. He could easily switch sleeping bags if he didn't get clean enough before getting too tired to tread water. Joe was at the edge of the tree where they had set up camp in a new area after the hike from hell the day before. Spencer groaned as he found one of the cuts he had gotten from training and falling on his ass. He sighed and worked on cleaning it well. He could wrap it up after getting dry and into clothes. He had seventeen cuts, but most of them didn't need medical treatment more than cleaning out and a little salve and maybe a band-aid thrown over them. This one tough needed a little more than that. It needed to be wrapped, probably stitches as well. Still, it wasn't so deep that Spencer was worried about actually getting medical treatment that he couldn't provide.

The water felt good after his long as hell hike around the area. Joe had been the worst that he had ever been, demoralizing Spencer some with the words that he said, but there was that indifference to them like there had been before they had trained. There was no malice in his words at all. It had done what it was meant to do, get Spencer moving. It was interesting to feel it. It was interesting, overall.

"Alive?" Joe called out.

"Yes!" Spencer nearly added bastard to it, and he knew that Joe wouldn't be offended by it. However, he wasn't going to do it.

Bathing the rest of the way was quick work, and then Spencer was walking up the side of the lake to get to the water's edge. The soap was clutched in his hand, and he dropped it into the bucket on the dock before grabbing the towel. He washed his hand with a crouch and then wrapped the towel around his waist. He looked around to find Joe sitting by the fire that was roaring in the fire pit that was close to where they were sleeping. Spencer's sleeping bag was already out of the tent and ready for him to lay on. There was food already ready, a quick soup that just needed a good fire to get it warm again.

Spencer dropped onto his sleeping bag, looking at the fire and how the warmth filled his body even though it was warm outside. There was something about a crackling fire to keep oneself content, even in the worst of feelings. It was a great feeling as he held his hands out to the fire. It was fucking wonderful.

"Here," Joe said, and he pressed a bowl into Spencer's hands and wrapped his fingers around it before he let go. Spencer slowly moved it to where one hand could grip it while the other took the spoon that was handed over next. Spencer propped the bowl onto his knee, so it didn't have to hold it quite as tightly.

"Thanks." Spencer spooned up the soup heavy with spice and tomato but not chili. There were noodles as well as vegetables in it. Spencer ate it down before he even realized that he was eating at all. He looked around for something to drink to wash it all down. Joe handed him a cup of something. It was warm. Spencer took a drink, finding that it was hot chocolate. It was instant but still better than nothing. He drank all of it down before the heat of it even registered on his brain. He tried to keep his head up, but now that he had warmth inside of him, food in his gut, and a soft place to sleep, Spencer was crashing fast. He settled the bowl and cup down, making sure the spoon was in the bowl before he let himself flop down. There was a blanket ready for him to cover his body, and then he was out.

* * *

The smell of steak was what woke Spencer up. His stomach was growling, and he felt like he had been hit by a truck, but he pushed himself up. Joe was there with a bottle of beer in his hand, holding it toward Spencer.

"What's for dinner?" Spencer could see that it was night, but he felt like he could lay down and go to sleep again.

"Steak, baked potatoes, and grilled veg." A plate was being offered with the steak already cut up into a few large chunks. Spencer looked at it to see that it had been cut up before it was cooked.

"It's been a week. We've been on long store food for a while."

"There is a couple half of a mile that way, and they let me borrow their car. They live at this edge of the park and help keep an eye on the lake. I've gotten friendly with them over the years when I come out here. It's been a few since we've come out, but I always talk to them. I got us some good food so you wouldn't get too bad off after the whole mock Hell Week."

"I'm looking forward to the real thing." Spencer felt dead but revitalized at the same time.

Hell Week was supposed to drop the weak from BUD/S before too much time was spent on them. It wasn't supposed to be looked at as a good thing, but for Spencer, it was going to be his trial by fire. It was going to be the thing that made him know if he was going to make it. If he got through Hell Week, he could get through anything and everything. He was going to win it. He was going to win it all.

"How come you've never introduced me to them before?"

"They are pretty antisocial and have never asked to meet you, so I don't. I met them while here at the lake when one of them was checking on it. I figure that they are out here and don't need me invading with my kid. Still wanted to make sure you had protein inside of you."

"Thanks," Spencer said around the hunk of meat he had in his mouth and was tearing off the rest. Joe laughed and shook his head.

The last week had been hell, but it was the kind of hell that Spencer needed. That last little bit of fear that he had was gone. He was going to make it. It was going to be hard work, but he was going to make it.

# The End of Arc 1


	8. Chapter 8

**Title** : The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday  
**Ratings** : Explicit  
**Warnings** : Graphic Depictions Of Violence  
**Fandom(s)** : Criminal Minds  
**Category** : M/M  
**Relationships** : Spencer Reid/Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid/OMC, Spencer Reid/OFC,  
**Characters** : Spencer Reid, Aaron Hotchner, Jack Hotchner, Rory Hotchner (OC), Jacob Wright (OC), Nicholas Agnew (OC), Gregory Rivera (OC), Alana Rivera (OC)  
**Tags** : Military!Spencer, Canon Divergence, Romance, Drama,  
**Summary** : Spencer Reid could see his life in front of him. He was going to find a cure for his mother's illness and save her. Then he meets retired Navy Captain Joseph Nutter who has moved in next door to Spencer and his mother when Spencer is eleven. That changes the course of his entire life.  
**Words** : Total: 158,189 _Arc 1_ : 54,140 _Arc 2_ : 51,733 _Arc 3_ : 52,316  
**Year** : 2002-2019  
**Spoilers** : Entire Series  
**Notes** : Instead of changing over the names of Enlisted on the team, I'm using the names that were started to be used in 2006 for the main part of this. I know it's wrong but I'm going for easy more than perfectly correct and changing the names just after starting to use them.  
**Beta** : ScarsLikeVelvet

# Arc 2

## Chapter 8

### August 2002

Spencer stopped reading his book when another person sat down across from him inside the mess hall. He didn't even look up but moved on to read again. A book was set down and opened in front of him, and Spencer couldn't help looking at what it was. It was one of the newer books that were not classroom texts on physics. Spencer had already read it. Joe had bought it for him before he could get it himself on his allowance that he was allowed from his trust after he had turned eighteen. Joe took care of most living expenses outside of Spencer wanting things that Joe wasn't willing to get like the higher-speed Internet at home. The speed that they had was more than enough for Joe's things but got enough for things that Spencer did.

A glance at the man across from him had Spencer doing a double-take. It was Seaman Nicholas Agnew. Spencer knew of him. Given that Spencer was an officer, there were not a lot of the Enlisted that actually talked to him. A few of the other officers that were in the BUD/S prep course seemed to think that Spencer was too young or something to get involved with on a friendly level. Spencer was okay with that. He knew that someone would come forward at some point to be friendly with him, and he knew enough of bullies to know if they were doing it to sabotage him or actually be his friend.

"Really?" a new voice asked.

Spencer looked at the new person. It was Seaman Gregory Rivera, who was someone that Spencer knew was intelligent, even if he hid it behind just doing enough to get by. He wasn't trying hard enough, and Spencer could see him jumping to the front of the line as far as that went when they were actually in full BUD/S.

"You hated everyone that we sat with all week, Greg. So I figured that if everyone were too stupid to exist in your bubble, I would go for the smart one."

"Dude, no offense, but everyone hates Ensign Reid."

"Yeah, but I know why." Agnew looked up at Spencer, finally prying his eyes from the book. He was smiling. Spencer gave him a cautious smile back.

"Yeah?" Rivera asked as he settled his tray down. He had a science fiction book with him, given the little spaceship that he could see on the spine that wasn't blocked from view by his food tray. It looked like it might just be a Star Wars book. The cover was blocked from view by his hand.

"Cause I'm awesome?" Spencer asked.

Rivera laughed, and Agnew gave Spencer a smile.

"So rumors are that you are a nobody, and you just jumped up to the top of the class of the officers, and that's why everyone hates you." Rivera was no-nonsense, and Spencer knew that before this so he wasn't shocked by the question.

"I went to J-ROTC in high school and ROTC in college. I'm not a nobody at all. Just because others don't actually want to talk to me and find out anything about me doesn't make me some kind of ringer."

"Hey, Reid!" Someone called across the room. The voice was one of the officers that Spencer was more than happy to ignore. The man was good at asking questions that were supposed to stump him but never did. "What is 1,528,178 divided by twenty-five?"

"61127.12."

There were groans of anger as Spencer answered it.

"Why do you do that?" Agnew asked.

"I can't help it, unfortunately. I heard it, and I have to answer it."

"Why don't you write it down? Or just say it in your head?" Rivera asked.

"We used to do that in college to each other. Random stupid science of math-related questions to see who would answer first. I almost always won."

"Almost?" Agnew asked.

"Well, sometimes I was busy on something else. I would then spout off the answer up to four minutes later."

"Okay, that part sounds like fun," Rivera said.

"Like Internet Explorer. It's so damned slow." Agnew closed his book and focused on eating his lunch.

Spencer laughed, and he closed his book as well. His food was long gone, and he was using the break for lunch to get a little relaxation in.

"It always made everyone laugh in school, not at me, though. I was often lost in my own world while I work on problems."

"So when did you go to college? And where?" Agnew asked.

Spencer looked at the two of them. He looked at the books they were reading, and the one that Rivera had was indeed a Star Wars book. They were either damned good at acting, or they were honest in their reading habits.

"Caltech started in the fall of 1994."

Spencer could see their eyes darting through it all, doing calculations.

"You said you went to J-ROTC and ROTC. How?"

"There was a high school that had a rather significant grouping of homeschool kids in the area, so ROTC was opened up to them. So I did that while at Caltech, and then a month before I turned seventeen, I started ROTC at Caltech."

"When did Caltech get ROTC?"

"It's still pretty new from what I understand. Wanting to see about getting more of the brainier kids into the program instead of leaving them out. It was a pilot program for the non-standard schools. That's also why I was added in before I technically should have been. I would not have been at Caltech long enough to complete even the three-year course if I had not been allowed. I was going to finish up schooling before I could complete that and staying on a for a year just to do that was not something my J-ROTC instructor wanted."

"So exactly how many degrees do you have?" Rivera asked.

"Three doctorates and two bachelors, and no, I am not telling them to you. We gotta keep some mystery in this, don't we?" Spencer smiled as he said it, and it made the other two laugh.

"I have a bachelor's in physics, and Rivera has a bachelor's in history. We went to Columbia."

"Nice. So two knew each other before?"

"Grew up a floor away from each other. I would sneak into his room at night, and we would watch horrible, horrible movies that gave us nightmares."

Spencer nodded.

"So from California?" Rivera asked.

"Nope, Vegas. Born and raised until I went to Caltech just before I turned thirteen."

"Wow, so never play cards with you?" Agnew said.

"Like you don't count cards as well," Rivera said.

Agnew snorted and grabbed his water and downed it. Spencer noticed that they had both finished off their food, and all that was left was their drinks.

"So the other officers think you are some kind of...what?"

"I have no clue. I've proven that I can do it physically. I don't answer every single question in class and give everyone one shot at answering it before I do it correctly."

"So what exactly is your IQ, if you don't mind us asking." Rivera looked like he was full of innocence, but Spencer could see the calculating eye there.

"The last time that I let myself be tested, it was 187, but that was when I was still a very young teenager. I'm sure that at some point during all of this, I'll have to take another by someone."

"And your reading speed?"

"What?" Spencer looked at Rivera after he asked the question. He had made sure to keep his pleasure reading speed down, and even his classroom reading speed down to an average human's. There was no way that either of them should have noticed him reading faster.

"Dude, your first day here, you looked around at every single sign, and now you move around without even looking. You've helped seventeen people find places that were not given on our tour and are only a single map that was visible for a few seconds during intake." Agnew used his bookmark to point at Spencer. He had, it seemed, closed his book before slipping that inside. "So reading speed?"

Spencer debated not answering, but these guys didn't feel or act like the kids in high school who asked him things and used those against him. "Twenty thousand words per minute."

"Yup, you are the one who is going to be reading all of the things and telling us what we need to know. I mean outside of the shit we really need to read."

"And why would I do that?" Spencer asked.

"Because I had my ass kicked by other kids too much in upper-grade school and junior high before I learned how to fight back. It's how I got to know Greg. He and his dad helped me learn how to throw a punch. We both did ROTC in high school and then through a cooperative program with MU at Columbia. It was fun, and MU was only ten blocks away, and it was closer to home."

"And why do you think that I need protection."

"You probably don't. I've seen your muscles, but things are always better with friends, and most of these guys want to talk about what guns shoot best, how many push-ups they can do, and how they can run without puking. Don't get me started on the sex. I don't have a girlfriend, and Greg here is married, and he refuses to talk about his sex life with her, so we are ignored."

"You speak your mind, don't you, Agnew?" Spencer asked.

"Always. That's also a reason why Greg had to protect me. I didn't know when to shut my mouth."

"They really talk about how long they can run without puking?" Spencer asked.

"It's like a big thing," Rivera said.

"Yeah, I read the boring as hell stuff and tell you what you need to know."

"Good, technical stuff sometimes makes me sleepy. If it has to do with classwork, I am all there, but there are a lot of memo things that go out that we do need to know, but legal speech is shit." Rivera opened up his book and started to read, he was about a quarter of the way through and didn't use a bookmark to keep track.

Spencer went back to his book and started to read. None of them were late for the next exercise that they were doing.

* * *

"So how is everything going?" Joe asked.

Spencer looked around to make sure that he was still alone in his barracks. There was no one around.

"My learning curve was a lot less than a few others. I'm being run ragged by the trainers, but then I knew that. Officers have to be able to tough it out more than the Enlisted. Just about six more weeks of this. I have a leave weekend coming up, not enough to get back home, but I have a day here in the area. Come visit me?"

"Sure. Email the time you are released and when you have to be back. I'll make sure I'm in long before and fly out after. Just us?"

"Yes. Agnew is obsessed with the whole history of the SEALs, so I wouldn't be shocked if he had a dossier on you from what he could get from all SEALs. He knows every single instructor who is teaching us, including a few things that I think he wrangled from people when they were drunk. He's sly as hell, and it's kind of great. Rivera is a sarcastic asshole, but he's not an asshole to Agnew or me."

"I'm glad you are making a few friends, even if they are not Officers."

"I don't need to be friendly with anyone but whoever I become the Junior Officer of, but the Enlisted gotta be able to trust me. We are friendly with a few more. They don't sit with me in the mess or anything, but they are nice enough during exercises and the like. There are a lot of raging assholes, though, and I just know that someone is going to pick a fight with Agnew or me. I look forward to someone doing it to Agnew. He's a tough little shit who isn’t afraid to throw the first punch. I have a feeling that I know exactly who is going to start something with me. He's got a little rank ahead of me, but not by much, really."

"Fighting like that should not be on anyone's mind while you guys are there."

Spencer didn't say anything as the door opened. He saw that it was the trio of Officers that he was pretty sure was going to make it their job to beat the shit out of Spencer and get him to drop out of BUD/S prep. They all three looked at him and frowned before one started to make a movement toward him. The other door opened, and their worst instructor entered the room. Spencer dropped the cell phone and stood at attention.

"At ease. Ensign Reid, you are to report for further testing tomorrow. You'll get the exact location after reveille in the morning."

"Yes, Sir."

The instructor looked at the other three who grabbed something from their bunks and walked back out. Looking at Spencer, the instructor looked down at the phone and then quirked an eyebrow. "Your father?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Better not leave him hanging." He turned on his heel and left the barracks.

Spencer grabbed the phone.

"Sorry," Spencer said.

"It's fine. I figured that something happened and then I heard them talking. So testing, huh?"

"I think it's IQ."

"Ah, so I finally get to see what I did to that brain of yours huh?"

"Dad," Spencer said with a long-suffering sigh.

"Have you got a response to any letter from Diana?"

"No. I have the return address still in Pasadena for now. Then when I get situated for the long term stay at BUD/S, I can put a local address for there. I called and talked to Doctor Norman. I know you told me that the whole suit finally got dropped, given all of the testimony from Doctor Norman, but I wanted to make sure that he doesn't hate me. He doesn't. He's okay keeping to making small decisions on mom, but he wants to make sure that I am aware of all of them. Though while I am in BUD/S, it's not like I can just drop a log and run to take a call. He's going to do his best to make the choices I would make."

"That's good. What has your instructors said about your mother?"

"They will make sure that I get all calls that have to do with anything that is fully needed for me to make a decision on. One of them has a mother who was in a wreck, and she had a stroke that robbed her of her ability to talk and walk. He has to make decisions on her behalf as his father divorced her after it. Twenty-five years of marriage and two kids only to leave when things got tough. He promised me that the military is fully understanding of that. I've made sure to email Doctor Norman what he needs to do to get into contact with me."

"Good. So tell me about your time," Joe demanded.

Spencer laid down on his back on his bunk, he would have to straighten it anyway as it seemed that someone had messed with it before he got back. It was stupid little things like that which Spencer was ready for. He knew the lay of the land. He knew how to look out for. The only easy day was yesterday.

### Late September 2002

Spencer grabbed the only bag that he had brought with him. A delay in Illinois had made him late to get to California. He sighed as he hiked it up. Spencer hated that he was late. Joe was waiting on him, but Spencer needed to get to Coronado to get there before curfew, and there was only time enough to stop to eat before he did.

While waiting for a taxi, Spencer tugged his phone from his pocket and turned it on. It had been off the whole of the flight. There was a lot of vibration as it showed all of his calls and texts that he had missed while he was on the flight. There were a few from Freddie who was wishing him luck and to not get a venereal disease by screwing all of the girls who liked to do that to soldiers. Spencer laughed at that. A taxi pulled up, and Spencer got into the back. He was about to tell him to take him to the best steak place when he saw that Joe had texted him an address. Spencer gave that over instead.

"Sure thing. That won't take long at all to get there. Close to Coronado. You look military. A new batch of SEAL hopefuls?"

"Yes." Spencer looked up to see that the man was paying close attention to the road, which was a damned good thing. He read through a few other texts from other people from Caltech. They only kept in contact through texts here and there and occasion rants at each other in forums of science websites.

There was a lot of inane chatter from the driver as he drove, but it wasn't anything too bad. It was mainly the kinds of places that he could go when he had leave to find damned good food. Spencer filed that away. His trust made sure that he had more than enough money to live off while he was going through BUD/S, at least for the things that he needed to help keep his brain active and going. He was going to find the library as soon as he could and make sure that he could get books. There would be plenty of manuals and the like to keep him busy for a while, and Joe would be sending him books and then more when Spencer sent back the others. They had a good system down so far that had kept Spencer, Agnew, and Rivera happy during prep course. Now it was full BUD/S, and things were going to be vastly changed.

Spencer looked at the restaurant that he was being dropped outside and wondered exactly what kind of food they served. He really hoped that steak was on the menu and not something that was just a feature. He wanted a steak that took up a plate.

"Welcome, Sir. Are you dining alone, or are you joining a party?"

"Alo-" Spencer stopped when his eyes raked over the board that had names wrote it for people waiting. There was a line a few from the bottom that said Nutter-Reid. "I guess I'll be joining my father."

"Ah, yes, Sir. We seated him ten minutes ago." She left the station and moved to escort Spencer to where Joe was in a corner booth at the back near the kitchen. Spencer shook his head and smiled as Joe looked up at him.

Joe stood up and hugged Spencer tightly.

"I got your message that you were going to be late, so I called to get your arrival time from the airport an hour ago and made sure we could meet here before you have to bunk in for the night. I'm glad you had fun in Chicago."

"Yeah. I met a few interesting people there with Agnew. Rivera went home to his wife."

"Agnew seems like a good kid."

"He's no Freddie, but he'll do."

"I'm shocked they even are willing to be seen with you."

"Well, given that they talk circles around the other guys, I think that it's me or no one. Besides, they all feel like anyone who is around is going to hate them anyway, so they might as well just do what they want."

"I can see that. Once you get settled in a team, it's not going to matter all that much. No one is going to worry about you being friendly with anyone. Not within the teams."

"Let's not talk about work," Spencer said with a grin.

"There is not much to talk about that is not work."

"Really? Then how come I got pictures from Missy down the street of you getting into a car with three different women and two guys last week."

"She really needs to keep her and her new camera to herself. How did she get your email?" Joe was actually blushing a little bit.

"She promised to keep me appraised of your life in general. She's enjoying watching you do some of the yoga you can do in the yard. "

"You need to stop making friends with the old ladies who live around us."

"I love making friends with old ladies. They were perfect spies. So you take people in the area to chemo and sit with them for company when their family can't all as a volunteer to the hospital."

"I haven't told anyone what I do."

"Ah, I figured that part out, but you wouldn't be in the car for reasons other than someone who can't get into the Jeep. They are all middle-aged and not exactly looking the best. Patchy hair or the outright lack of it tells me chemo. So I called the hospital looking for you, and they said that you were on your way to pick up a patient for the day and that I could leave a message that they would give you as soon as you got back in. I told them that I would text you."

"You chatted up a nurse."

"I told her that I was on break for an hour and wanted to talk but that you were doing more important things."

"You know that you are creepy, right?" Joe tossed a chunk of a roll at Spencer.

Spencer caught the roll and laid it down on a napkin before he grabbed a roll himself. He tore it up into small bite-sized pieces and laid them on a different one while he grabbed the menu to look at it.

"I ordered you a tea to be dropped off when you got here. A month until you can order a beer."

"I'm looking forward to it. Please, no outward presents. I don't need to be razzed for my birthday."

"I wasn't going to. I was going to just send a few extra books and a few snacks. I have the address of where to send them already."

"Not changed, huh?" Spencer asked.

Joe glared at him.

"It's not that it hasn't changed, Spencer. I have the list of places you will be. There have been small changes in a few things, and I don't have a memory like you and can recall things that I read once when I was stupidly young."

"Biggs?" Spencer asked.

"Yes."

"Ah. So how did you get started on the whole driving people to cancer treatments?" Spencer asked.

"I was at the VA for a check-up when I heard a nurse who works there talking about how she had been in the cancer ward of the local place where people got taxi rides to and from and were alone the whole time. They left so shakily, and it was horrible. So I went there to see if I could help. I mean, I have no job that I really want to work, and I can entertain myself well enough throughout the day. Still, I wasn't prepared for the empty nest syndrome that I ended up with when you went to prep course."

"Empty nest?"

"I know, right? I mean, I was alone long before you, so I just figured that I would go back to that. I mean other than summer when you were out of school, you weren't home that much. Yet the house felt empty, and I didn't like it. It's kind of interesting. I mean most of them sleep for most of it, but I take checkers or a book so they can play with me or I can read if they are asleep. I cook them dinner that night too. They have home health nurses that come and take care of them when I am not there, but still, they know they aren't alone after that. Cancer treatment sucks by the way."

"No, really?" Spencer asked.

Joe gave him a glare.

"So, how do you feel about everything?" Spencer asked.

"It sucks, but some of these people have no one, and even if it's just me for a few hours every two or three weeks depending on their schedule, I can do that."

"Yeah, you can, Dad," Spencer said. He grabbed his tea and took a drink. "You can do anything that you put your mind to."

### Early October 2002

Spencer dropped down onto the bench that was in the locker room and sighed as he listened to the men who were already showering. He knew that all of the stalls were full, so he was just going to stay where he was and silently die. He felt like he had been hit by a Mack truck, and really he probably had given how hard his training buddies had gone on him.

"You alive?" a voice asked.

Water started to hit Spencer. He sat up and turned as he stood up and looked at who had talked to him. One of the showers was free, and Spencer was thankful for that.

"Alive, but not sure I want to be."

"You still have Hell Week to survive."

"I'm well aware." Spencer started to strip and put his clothes into his locker before he grabbed a towel to hang over the bar that would wait for him when he was done. He shut his locker and spun the lock on it. He had worked it open when he had gotten into the room. It was nearly time for him to make his weekly call to Joe. He would hopefully be out of the shower and ready to do that when it was time.

Spencer showered in record time, his newly shorn head was easy to just rub a little shampoo over. He had picked up a good shampoo that would work as a body wash as well and was happy with it. When he was done, he found that the locker was open, and all of his clothes were wet and on the ground. Spencer sighed and grabbed them. He put on the pants and the shirt to head to his bed and get clean and dry clothes. He found his lock was on the floor and had been cut.

"Reid did you fall into the shower after getting dressed," Commander Black asked him as he saw Spencer leave the showers.

"Sir, no, Sir." Spencer held out the lock that had been cut, the main part still in the locking part, and the other hanging down. "I got out of the shower and found my clothes in a pile on the floor after I had locked them up in the locker to use. I'm headed to my bunk to get on clean clothes, Sir."

"I'll escort you."

"There is no need, Sir."

"Your property was damaged, and you are going to need to be given time to go and get another lock for your locker. This has become more than just a simple hazing of the new Officer."

"Yes, Sir." Spencer entered the barracks behind Black. He watched as the man looked around. Everyone should be in there at the moment, and he wasn't wrong. Spencer's bed was unmade.

"You know it's funny. I watched Ensign Reid leave with his things for the shower, and his bed was just fine. I come back twenty minutes later to find him soaking wet in clothes, and his bed is unmade. Funny thing that is." Commander Black was from Texas, and his accent was moderate except when he was pissed. When he was pissed, it got a hell of a lot thicker. "What do you think the camera is going to show when I watch it?"

No one said a single thing.

"Reid, get your clothes, and go change out of my earshot. Call your father."

"Yes, Sir." Spencer grabbed new things and slipped to the bathroom to get changed. He could hear Black yelling at the people in the barrack with him, and he didn't even try and understand it. He knew that slight hazing was fine, but something like that was what the military was trying to stop. It was slow as hell going with some of the Officers and Enlisted that were in charge of troop training, not even trying to stop it.

Dry clothes felt fucking wonderful as Spencer slipped into them, using a clean shirt to get any extra water off of his skin. He slipped his feet into the dry boots that he brought with him and hoped the other pair dried soon. He was still working the second pair of boots in, so his feet were killing him.

When he entered the main barrack area again, every single Officer in there was doing push-ups. Spencer walked over and laid his boots by his trunk and then settled his clothes into the area where his dirty clothes were. He stood up and waited to be dismissed again to go and call his father.

"Who was in the shower based on what you saw when you entered, Ensign Reid?" Black asked.

"Mortimer was the only one that I saw. He was just finished with the actual shower, and the rest were in cubicles with them shut. I could guess, but it would be that."

"Mortimer?" Black asked.

Mortimer started to name off a name every time that he came up from a push-up.

"Did anyone else enter while you were there?" Black asked.

"No, Sir."

"Gentleman?"

"No, Sir."

"So it was one or more of you? Everyone else get out. Run until you drop. Next time, tell me where you are instead of keeping your mouth shut. You disgrace the uniform you wear when you do shit like that. My Navy is not the place for acts like this. You are all Officers of the Navy, act like you have pride in wearing your uniform."

Rivera was outside when Spencer finally left the barrack. He had two cups in his hand and held one out to Spencer. He looked down.

"Those are not your standard boots."

"No. Those are soaking wet from the trip in the shower they took along with the clothes I had been wearing and the clothes that I was going to change into. A newbie tripped and dosed me with a light chemical that he was carrying with the lid open. So I was ushered off to shower to make sure that I was not going to get something all over me. It wasn't that bad, didn't even burn or anything. I'm worn out as hell."

"I just wanted to check on you. Word has spread that your barrack is in trouble for hazing."

"They broke into the locker I was using. I wasn't going to say a damned thing, but Commander Black saw me in wet clothes with the lock broken in my hand. I've gotta head to the BX and get a new lock. I'll do that after I talk to dad."

"Sure. Sure. I just wanted to get eyes on you." Rivera gave Spencer a smile before he broke off to head to where he was bunking down.

Spencer walked over to the more social areas and settled down at a table so he could call Joe. Joe was probably home from taking Joan shopping for new clothes since she had lost sixty pounds so far in her chemo. Joan had lost her kids and husband to a car wreck, and during her being given an exam, they had found cancer in her ovaries. She lived a few blocks over in an apartment building, and Joe had met her through volunteering at the hospital. Spencer kind of hoped that she made it through the chemo and lived a happy life. Also, the horribleness of losing everyone in her life made it hard for her to get up in the morning to even attempt to go to chemo.

"Hey," Spencer said as soon as Joe answered the phone.

"Hello, perfect timing, I just finished eating dinner. Joan wasn't hungry, so I just packed up some soups and stuck those in her fridge. How is the first week of INDOC going?"

"Pretty good. I feel like shit, but that could also be the weird chemical that was dropped on me. No reaction or anything, just someone who was paying attention to what was going on everywhere but in front of him. He ran into me when I had been standing still. You know that hazing sucks."

"Yes, it does. How bad is it?"

"I think that they think they can get me to quit if they keep on going. Too bad for them, they don't even have the hope of touching what high school did to me as far as that goes. I'm not going to run away and let them do that to me."

"Good."

"Though they are probably going to want to kill me, but they are the ones that didn't make sure that someone around before their last attempt. The Commander saw me in the aftermath, and he's a very no-nonsense guy who hates the shit that they do to other officers."

"They are just scared. Six percent of you make it through training. Every single person they can run off is another that they don't have to worry about beating."

"Yeah, well, I'm not that easy to get rid of. The jocks at school learned that, and so will these guys. I'll keep on doing what I've been doing, which is be better than them by just breathing."

"I won't be in town next weekend. Going to Oregon to camp Friday through Monday. My Monday guy is in the hospital as this last round was brutal, so they are going to keep him there to do this one to see if the new doses will do better on him. Joan's sister is able to make it in, so she's going to stay with her over the weekend. I'm going to go and relax and fish at that lake and just do nothing that I don't want to do."

"I'm going to be here. Next time I get a twenty-four hour, I'll let you know. It's going to be a while."

"You are able to drink. Go and do that."

"Nah. Not until Hell Week is over."

"What how many guys do you think you are going to lose?"

"I think we are going to drop around seventy percent of the starting class, but I could be wrong. I'll revise that the week before based on who has left."

"Are there bets still going around?"

"Oh, yeah. I stay the hell away from them. I don't mind saying things in my head, but I don't need to say them out loud. I don't need to have that go around with me as an Officer."

"My Officer and Gentleman," Joe said.

"I'd say something, but you would just laugh. I should go. I need to get a new lock for my kit. Can you send me another of the ones you had custom made for me?"

"Yeah. I bought a few when I did it. All have the same code. Do I need to have that changed?"

"No, they cut it off. They didn't crack it. Though I wouldn't be shocked if they cut it because they couldn't unlock it."

"Yes, well, no one expects for a spinlock to be to the first digits of Pi in one and two number sets. I'm sure they would just cut it off."

"Bye, Dad. Love you."

"Love you, too, Son."

Spencer hung up and went to get what he needed from the BX before he settled in for the evening. Tomorrow was going to be hell, and Spencer was looking forward to it. He would come out at the top of the pile, one o the few who actually got into the SEALs.

"You are fucking dead meat," Mortimer said when Spencer entered the barracks again.

"You are really scary," Spencer said back. A few of the other guys just inhaled and looked at anyone but them.

"You don't fucking understand the way that things are here."

"No, you don't. You are an Officer of the Navy. I can tell that you didn't go through ROTC, and I'm shocked that you even got this far. I might be a kid to you, Mortimer, but I've at least done the real work needed to actually become a damned good Officer of the Navy. I don't disrespect the uniform that I put on by doing bullying behavior. Beat me in the only way that actually makes you out to be a winner, Mortimer. Make it to the end. Show me you are the bigger man by beating me fair and square."

Mortimer just glared at Spencer, but he didn't care. He walked over to where his bunk was and dropped down onto it. It wasn't going to last long, but Spencer really hoped that Mortimer actually did what Spencer wanted. It was the only genuinely honorable way to show that he was the better man. By making it to the end.


	9. Chapter 9

## Chapter 9

### Late October 2002

The bonfire was roaring loudly as Spencer walked over to drop down in front of it. He heard the other Officers and Chiefs talking about the various people who had already dropped out before Hell Week was even over.

"How did you do that?" a voice asked.

Spencer looked up to see who it was that asked that question. He mainly didn't want to offend someone if they were talking to him. He found it was one of the other instructors.

"Do what, Sir?" Spencer asked.

"Know that the attack was coming. We were watching and didn't see any indication."

"The rain, Sir. It was an open area, and yet, I stopped feeling it on me. So I moved out of the way of whatever was behind me."

"Mortimer has been an issue from the beginning," Commander Black said.

"You said that you didn't think he would make it, but attacking another Officer, a junior one at that to him during Hell Week, is an offense that we can't let go. He's going to be tried for attempted murder. What exactly did you do to earn his ire, Ensign Reid?"

"I would love to say that I didn't know, Sir, but that wouldn't be truthful."

"Mortimer is a bully. His former leader had a soft spot for him and ignored the complaints against him," one of the others said. The area was too dark on the other side of the fire for Spencer to read the name on the fatigues, and there were more people than he knew there. He knew the names of every single person there but not the face to go with it. He had seen the memo about the list of people working.

"There is a huge line between being a bully and trying to kill someone."

"Not really," Spencer said. There was a few seconds of silence, and he looked up to see that every single one of the people around the fire was looking at him. "When bullies don't get what they want from their victims, they escalate. I kept on dodging a few of the bullies in school, so they attempted to strip me naked and tie me to the football goalpost. I made enough racket and hurt them enough to halt that and get help coming because I could scream like it was no one else's business. They did gag me after that, but I kept on fighting."

"You were underage in high school," Black said.

"Yes, Sir."

"Seniors?"

"The three main that was holding me down and stripping me, yes. I know a bully, and I know how to deal with them to make sure that they are the ones that get in trouble. Like this. I didn't quite expect that."

"He was pissed that you had beaten him on the strategy exercise and get to be here along with your team."

"I'm well aware, Sir."

Spencer looked at the team he had been assigned as they had been split up. He saw Rivera and Agnew looking a little worse for the wear and made room for them on his log that he was sitting on. The rest of the team looked at the empty spots that were on logs, and Spencer could see them debating it or sitting on the ground. It was wet, though. It wasn't raining now, but it had been raining for days, and everything was soaked.

"Pop a squat," Black said and waved to a seat beside him. The rest of the team moved to a spot beside others.

"So, that was the quickest that scenario has been beaten in our recorded history of doing it," one of the other leaders said. Spencer looked up into his face to see that it was Harbor. Spencer wasn't sure which one he was, though.

"That's because of Ensign Reid, Sir," Makepeace said from the far side of the fire as he settled down on the edge of a log. There wasn't enough room for everyone, but the fire felt damned nice. It was near dawn. They were all going to be sleeping the day away when they were released from Hell Week.

"Permission to speak freely granted for this short little break you have. I heard the discussion about a few of you not trusting Reid," Black said.

"Yes, Sir. Most of us have never worked with Ensign Reid before. He's a geek, Sir, we hear him talk about science fiction and fantasy. He's got his head in the clouds on downtime. However, we learned our lesson quickly when he went hand to hand with one of the other Enlisted and won. We reevaluated what we thought of him and did what he wanted."

"And?" Makepeace asked.

"We are very, very happy to be by the fire," Agnew said.

There was a little bit of laughter, but Spencer took it in the way it was meant. They were all able to laugh and be a little happy because they were warm. They were warm because of Spencer. That was a lot of pride in that feeling.

"Just a little longer, and you guys can sleep in a bed and eat real food."

"There is nothing wrong with rations," Spencer said in response to Black's statement.

"See, he's just a little weird, but he's our weird, so we are going to keep him."

"You guys are warm enough, hustle your asses out and get to moving onto your next bit of marching," Makepeace said.

Spencer started to stand up with the rest of his squad but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Most of the other Officers and Chiefs all left as well. There was just Makepeace left with Spencer. Makepeace shook Black's hand as the man left.

"There was a day a long time ago when I told a guy in my team that we needed smarter guys leading the troops. Not that who we had was dumb, but the enemy is getting smarter. The world is filling with technology and deviant people. We have to adapt to that as well."

"Yes, Sir." Spencer wasn't sure what this was about.

"He told me that it was the eggheads, the geeks, the pencil pushers, and what the Brits call boffins who were going to be the ones to make sure that America stays free of tyranny. Though, I didn't quite believe him fully at the time. Anger only gets you so far, and the war on terror has a lot of anger in it. I see that anger burning inside of you, but I don't see you making emotional decisions based on it. When it's you and your team out there, there will be emotional decisions. Your team is your family. You are the one that has to bring them home."

"Yes, Sir."

"That buddy of mine. He emailed me a few years ago, and he told me that he found someone who he thought was going to be a great Officer on a Seal team one day. He told me that I would see him through Coronado one day and that I hoped I saw in him what he saw. I left my team before I became burned out, but I didn't leave the SEALs. I stayed here to teach. I push every single person through here as hard as I can. You've never even come close to breaking."

"No, Sir."

"The thing is that I see Joe's hand on you. It's the way you move, it's the way you look at things. He never told me how that young man crossed his path, and I don't want to know much at all. I'd rather get a beer with him after you get on your team and figure that out. I just want to know one thing. What is he to you? One word answer."

"Father."

"Get out there and find your squad, double-time, as I don't want to see you at the back when I see you next."

"Yes, Sir." Spencer stood up and made the proper salute before he left. He found his squad easy, even though they were silent for their part that they were on at the moment, it wasn't hard because they had discussed this. Each of them knew exactly what to do

Hell Week wasn't going to get Spencer, and he would make sure that his group had enough morale to get through.

* * *

Dropping onto his bed, Spencer was pretty sure that he was going to sleep through the night and probably not wake up at all unless he was dumped out of bed. Hell Week was over, and Spencer was more than ready to just have everything done with. There was no way to blink and be done with it, though. This was still just the beginning of everything that came to do with BUD/S. Even after BUD/S, there was still a fair bit of training to do before being put onto a team, picked to be on a team that is.

Spencer dug out his cell phone and slipped it under his ear as he turned on his side. There was no one else in the barracks. Even the Officers had been cut down to three by the time that it was all said and done. Three of which were out on medical and were going to get to try again when they were healed. A freak accident had a tree fall on them when they had been getting a half an hour nap. There wasn't a lot of damage but just enough that they needed medical leave, along with two other soldiers.

"Survive?" Joe asked when he picked up the phone.

"I'm here, and that's about as good as it gets," Spencer said.

"Good. I'm glad. Go to sleep. It's after sundown, you would be passing out any second."

"Oh, I'm in bed. I'm under the covers. I'm..."

"Your brain isn't shutting down, is it?"

"Nope. I'm going over every single encounter that I did. The hiking, how to have stopped things from happening. It's spiraling. I'm lying with my head on the phone on the pillow, and I just want to hear you."

"I can do that, son. I can do that."

Spencer sighed and pulled the blankets up his body a little more. He felt better even just hearing Joe's voice as he told him about his week and what he did with the cancer patients that he drove to treatment and hung out with them. Somewhere around the time that Joe was talking about Wednesday.

The feel of the floor waking him up when he hit it had Spencer rolling to get away, getting up to his feet, and even though his legs protested it. He crouched and got ready to fight until he realized that whoever had attacked him, hadn't meant to attack him. He looked at the group that he had been with during Hell Week. They were all dressed in civilian clothes and looked ready to head out and got to club or something like it.

"Dear God, you were sleeping like you were dead," Rivera said.

"Dude, you were sleeping with your phone?" Agnew asked.

"The tried and true method of getting me to sleep, I get it to play things, and I listen to it. Put me to sleep last night.

"Last night? Dude, it's three in the afternoon. It's time to go."

"Time to go?" Spencer asked. He looked at Rivera and then the rest of them. He had no clue what was going on. He had slept the morning and half of the afternoon away.

"Dude, you did not tell us that your birthday was earlier in the month. You also very massively decided to not tell us that you turned twenty-one. We are going out to drink and to celebrate." Agnew looked like the cat that got the cream, and he was happy as fuck.

"I need to shower."

"Duh, you have a funk. We all did. We were all too tired to shower correctly last night. Go and shower. You don't have plans with your father, did you?"

"No. I called him last night before bed, and we are fine. I'll see him when we get a break later. He wanted me to have this weekend to do what I wanted."

"So why hasn't your dad come up? I mean Pasadena and San Diego are not that far apart." Rivera looked like he wanted to ask more than that, but Spencer ignored him.

"He wants me to have time to do what I want and not have to worry about him. It's good. I mean, it was just him and I. We are good with time apart. Once I get selected for a team, it's training and then deployment, not to mention spin-ups of the more important variety. It's good to have some distance."

"So, what happened to your mom?" Agnew asked.

Spencer stopped walking toward where the showers were, and he looked back at them. It was just Agnew and Rivera now. The others had slipped outside.

"She's sick and has lived in the hospital for a long time."

There were no words from the two men. They just nodded and let Spencer go. There was no reason to go into the hows and the whys of everything that was wrong with his mother. He also didn't feel like he needed to tell any of them that Joe wasn't his biological father. The guys that Spencer had got to know were all from families that were whole or divorced, but no one was an orphan. Spencer might not be an orphan in the strictest sense of the word, but he was as close to it as he could get. His mother couldn't raise him, and his father didn't want him. He was without his biological parents, but he had Joe, and Joe was fucking awesome.

Pushing the thoughts away, Spencer worked on getting the funk off. He made sure that his kit was perfect and that his things were all cleaned up before he left. He put his trunk in order and stepped outside. For a few horrifying seconds, Spencer thought that they had left.

It was just like before, he had learned that everyone who talked to him in high school was just learning things to use against him. That his hopes had been gotten up about having friends, and they were dashed on the rocks at the bottom of a cliff.

"REID!" Agnew screamed and waved from a Jeep that was loaded with a spot for Spencer in the passenger seat. There was another that was there as well. Base use vehicles from the motor pool. They had made sure that they had vehicles to get around. It was really nice that they had thought about that.

Spencer rushed over and slipped into the Jeep with a grin on his face.

"That was...how did you do that?" one of the fresh-faced Seaman asked.

"Dad's main vehicle has been a Jeep for decades. I learned how to drive in a Jeep."

"Do you want to drive?" Agnew asked.

"No. Who is DDing?" Spencer asked.

"Locke and I," a man said from the back. Spencer looked back to see that it was Baker. Baker didn't like to drink at all, and Locke's father was a drunk, and so was his grandfather, so neither of them touched a single bit of alcohol at all.

"That's good."

The drive took longer than Spencer would have liked with no one talking. Thankfully Joe had broken Spencer of his habit of talking to fill up silences when it was a little awkward. It was interesting to see how the people of the city treated them, though when they all piled out of the Jeeps in the parking lot. It was evident that they were all military, they all moved like they were a danger.

"So we are buying three drinks for you tonight, we all piled in money together," Agnew said as he handed over some cash to Rivera. "The question is, are you getting it on your own, or are we just ordering whatever and making you drink it, Sir?"

Spencer laughed at the Sir that was dropped there, and he laughed.

"Make me blush with drinks that have sexual names." The group had claimed a large set of booths that were open and they were able to slip in and out of them with ease. It was a nice area far away from the other patrons of the bar that they were in. He laughed when the first round of drinks came out, and there was a pink one for him. Spencer didn't even snort when the name was given over. He took a sip and found it sweet a cloying, but it wasn't impossible for him to drink. The rest of the drinks were a mix of beers, shots, and tumblers full of harder liquors with ice. Spencer knew that everyone there was of legal age, it was still funny to see them get carded when they got up to get their refills.

"Ready to move on?"

"Move on?" Spencer asked as he finished off his drink.

"Yeah, we came here for the good shit, the harder drinks to get us going, but we have plans that include a club that is on the other side of the lot we are parked in. It's got dancing and girls that like to hit this." Black waved his hand down his body with a laugh.

"So this is not just a birthday celebration for me being able to get alcohol. It's a sex night."

"After Hell Week?" Agnew said.

"YES!" everyone but Rivera said.

"And what are you here for?"

"The beer." Rivera raised his glass and drank it down before setting it down.

The club was loud, but it was a good loud. There were people dancing in a large crowd when they got there. The eight of them split up into two groups to take over two tables. Blake and Rivera sat with Spencer as well as a shy man named Stevens, who watched the people dancing while he drank three shots in a row before getting out there.

"Oh my," Agnew said as he stopped by the table. Stevens was dancing like his body was being jerked around by strings. It was horrible and all kind of wonderful at the same time.

Spencer drank another drink, this time it was blue, and then he got onto the dance floor. The place was full of unattached males and females, so it wasn't all that long before someone came close to Spencer to dance with him and just didn't leave.

Another drink, chosen by Agnew this time, and Spencer was feeling the effects. He knew that he was in no way able to consent to anything, so he made sure that he swapped dance partners.

"Hey, big boy," a woman said as she wrapped her hands around Spencer from behind. She slithered around him next to stand in front of him. Spencer pulled her hands off of him.

"Sorry, Ma'am. I've drunk a little too much for that."

"Oh, but that's when things get wild."

"Not for me. I don't have sex when I have drunk as much as I have."

"Are you some kind of homo?"

"Mari, get away from him," a waitress said as she stepped up and pushed the woman back. "Every single time that you get turned down, you accuse the man of being gay. You are drunk, he's drunk, and he doesn't want sex when he's drunk. You'd think that as someone who had what happened to her happen, you would not try and force someone to have sex with you to prove that they are not a gay man."

"Reid?" Agnew said as he stepped up.

"Your buddy, there is a homo. Couldn't even get it up for me," Mari said.

"I think that says more about you than him given that I have seen him get it up just fine for women who act a hell of a lot better than you."

"I think I'm done here."

"Yeah, let's head back to the bar. See if they have a game or something on." Agnew helped to turn Spencer away from her, and then the other fell in line with them when they got to the door.

"Rounds on me," Rivera said.

### December 2002

Spencer groaned as he rolled over in bed. He wasn't sure what woke him up, but he didn't like it. Grabbing his pillow, Spencer wrapped himself around it and sighed. The bed didn't smell or feel right, but it was comfortable, and that was all that Spencer really cared about. It felt a hell of a lot better than his bunk on base. That made all of this worth it.

A chime sounded from the stand beside his bed, so Spencer grabbed his phone and looked at it. It was a text from Amelia. She thanked him for the Christmas Eve phone sex and told him that she was still thinking about the feel of his cock inside of her.

It felt like a lifetime ago that he had seen her. She had tentative plans for January to take a trip to the US after she finally got her degree at university. Spencer was more than willing to see her if she came to his coast. She hadn't discussed that at all, though. Spencer had offered and waited to see what she did. If she came this way, Spencer hoped he had leave when she did come over. It was slightly arousing to see the message, so Spencer typed out a long one that was nearly as dirty before he sent it along with a Happy Christmas to her.

The smell of coffee and bacon assaulted Spencer's nostrils when he sat up in bed and figured that it was what had woken him up. He grabbed the shirt he had tossed over the foot of the bed as he slipped off of it. Joe had got a suite for them to stay in for the day that Spencer had leave for Christmas. It was a pretty fancy hotel, so Spencer was more than happy with that. He looked around the room as he had been too tired to even think about anything but changing into sleep clothes after his shower last night and collapsing in bed. To make up for those who were missing today, they had been given extra everything the day before. There were those who couldn't get home and back in twenty-four hours and actually have any family time, so it wasn't worth it. There would be a lot of calls over the course of the day.

Rivera's wife was coming to him, so he was at least having some family time. Rivera was like Joe and waiting until he figured out what team he was picked to be part of before he moved his wife and her job. He was lucky, though, and the job that she had had an office in each area where the SEAL teams worked from.

Joe could find a hospital to keep on doing what he was doing.

"Coffee's getting cold!" Joe yelled.

Spencer laughed and jerked his shirt on before he walked out the bedroom door. Joe was in the kitchen, not dressed at all for a day of anything more than staying inside. The sun was just peeking out of the clouds that were all around the city. It looked like it was going to be rainy, but Spencer could handle that.

"So, what do you want to do today?"

"I figured we would do the standard finding a Chinese place that serves good beer and make sure they get enough tips to be happy about staying open."

"That sounds good. What about anyone who chose to leave base today?"

"Agnew went to see Rivera's wife with him. I have no clue what they are doing."

"Do they want to join us?"

"Join us? I'm sure they have their own things that they want to do."

"Doesn't hurt to text. I want to get to know the two that you talk about the most. You have a fifty/fifty chance of being on the same coast as them and then a one in eight chance of being on the same team. Better to get to spend as much time as you can now."

"Dad, I'm fine spending time with you."

"I know, but I...I want to meet the guys that will be serving with you. You can learn a lot about other teams just by the guys who are in training together. There is a theme to it all. No class that comes out of BUD/S is ever the exact same. The class that was there when 9/11 is very different than the class that was started after. It's all very, very different. The drive, the need, the anger that fuels. I won't spill exactly who I am, but they will know that I am military. I'll just be vague and tell them Navy."

"If they want to come over. Rivera may just want to spend time with his wife."

"It's fine, Spencer. Whatever they want."

Spencer looked at the time and texted Agnew about his dad wanting to meet them for a late lunch and then added the address. He laid his phone down when he was done. Joe filled up their plates with food, Joe's not nearly as piled high as it used to be.

"How did the last doctor’s appointment go?"

"Good. My heart is still fine, numbers all in a good range. I'm just not as active as I used to be with my leg, so less food."

"Ah."

"I'd tell you, Spencer, if I had something wrong with me besides the issues I already have with my leg."

"I know. I just...it's strange to be so apart from you. I don't think about it when I am in training, but then I have moments at night that I realized that I can't walk to your bedroom door and open it to hear you breathing."

"I know. I felt the same. It's why I stay out of the house as much as I can on weekdays, and I've gone camping most weekends in some way, shape, or form. I don't know what I'm going to do when you are deployed the first time. I mean, it could happen at any point in time once your team is all set after getting new members. You might be the only one, and you might be one a great deal."

"Yeah, I've heard a few rumors that there will be a few guys retiring right about the time that we are all graduated from BUD/S and all of the following school. I'll be taking a short break before continuing on to do the Officer classes, so the last bit is going to suck." Spencer grabbed a piece of bacon and ate the whole thing before he worked on his eggs and potatoes. He missed the good scrambled eggs that Joe did.

"How is the food there. You've never brought that up."

"It's not yours, but at least it's passable enough that I don't think I'm going to get skinny from not eating. There is plenty of fresh fruit around, and that makes it really good."

"You and your fruits and vegetables."

Presents were opened after breakfast, and before Spencer went down to take a run on the treadmill that was in the gym in the hotel. Joe really liked the custom cane that Spencer had made for him. It had become the standard present for him over the years. Joe had tried to ask him to never get him a Christmas present, but Spencer had just ignored that starting when he could do small things for money at college to get money, and then when he was able to have a job, he got an even better cane.

Joe used the canes until he got a new one the next Christmas, so Spencer knew that he did well on them.

"So, I heard you on the phone with Amelia last night," Joe said when Spencer entered the room again, covered in sweat.

"Yeah?" Spencer asked.

"Do you love her?"

"No. I don't love her, and she doesn't love me. We like the orgasms that we give each other, and that is it. Even if they are long-distance orgasms. Why?"

"You talk to her a lot."

"Not really. Once a month about. She checks that I haven't been killed in training, and I make sure she isn't in jail for killing a customer who takes too many liberties."

"Can you see yourself loving her?"

Spencer knew exactly where that was going to go. Joe was a meddler, and he loved Spencer and wanted him to have someone, even if he was happy without someone. It felt weird. Spencer could deal with Joe fathering him, though. Mothering was not a term that Spencer ever wanted to use, so he had started to use fathering.

"I'm going to go and shower and then call Mom."

"Sure."

Spencer's shower took little time at all, and then he was sitting on his bed and looking at his cell phone. He frowned at the time. It would be just after all of the patients were done eating breakfast, so it was the best time to call. Spencer dialed the number for Bennington from heart. No numbers were programmed into his phone outside of Joe's numbers, just in case someone needed to call him. The rest of the numbers were all in his head.

"Bennington, how may I direct your call?"

"This is Spencer Reid. I'd like to talk to Diana Reid, please."

"Hold on one minute."

Spencer heard the hold music start-up, and he sighed before flopping back on the bed.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Reid. She doesn't want to talk to you today. We got your Christmas card, and we are going to give it to her later. Her main nurse wants me to tell you that she got all of the books you wanted, and they were in her room for her this morning."

"Thank you." Spencer hung up before the woman could say anything else to him. He didn't like it, but this was what it was. It still hurt that she didn't want anything to do with him. He still wrote her letters, and according to the emails from Doctor Norman, she was reading them, and she kept them all. She had asked for something safe to put them in.

The chime from a text pulled Spencer to sit up, and he looked to see that it was Agnew, and he said that they would gladly eat a late lunch with him and his father. They were excited to meet the man who had raised him. Spencer laughed, and he felt the smile on his face. It wasn't a fake one either.

The time for lunch came quicker than Spencer thought it would with him and Joe watching TV and making fun of things that were on it.

Spencer parked the Jeep in the empty spot that was closest to the door but not a handicap spot. Joe had a placard for that, but he only used it when his leg was hurting him a great deal.

The restaurant was not as empty as Spencer thought it was going to be. Instead, there were a few people alone at tables and a few couples. Agnew and Rivera were visible, and Spencer saw that Rivera's wife was there. Alana Rivera was dark-haired, and she looked like a beauty queen to Spencer. Joe was still outside, and Spencer just waited for him.

Alana leaned over, and Spencer watched as her hand settled over the top of Agnew's, and there was a look of fondness on his face. He felt like he had been sucker-punched a little. How in the hell had he missed that? Agnew and Rivera were like the best of buds, but there was nothing there that spoke of them having a relationship.

"Reid!" Rivera called out and waved his hand.

Spencer waved back, and when he heard the door open, he walked over to the table where the three people were already seated. He took the seat beside Agnew and Joe settled in at what would be the head of the table.

"Guys, this is Joe, my dad. Dad, this is Alana, Agnew, and Rivera."

"Greg, Sir," Rivera said as he held out his hand.

Nick was next with his hand out. "Nick, Sir. Spencer didn't tell us that his father was military."

"I don't like to broadcast it, and I made sure hat Spencer didn't either. I want him getting on and succeeding in who he is, not who his father is. Could you have seen some of the other guys and how they would have treated him if they had known that his dad was military? Especially since I am Navy."

"Yeah, he would have had it rougher than he does now." Agnew looked at Spencer, and he had a worried look on his face. Spencer just gave him a smile in return.

"So, what is the number of guys that are left?" Joe asked.

"Thirty-eight. Thirty-five are Enlisted while the last are Officers," Agnew answered.

"Nick's the camp gossip," Alana said with a grin on her face.

"Every class needs one. So I have a question, how long have you been in a relationship with these two?"

Rivera spit out the pop. He was drinking and looked at Joe.

"I learned a great deal about human behavior from Spencer here. He went to a lecture put on by the FBI's BAU, and he read all of the books that had been put out, and then there were his college texts on criminal psychology. I'm not sure that many would have actually noticed it, but you were touching him the same way you touch Rivera."

"Since high school. I love them both, and they have a strong friendship bond."

"You think that I care about that?" Joe asked.

Agnew's eyes went to Spencer, but then he sighed.

"No, we really aren't...she loves us both, and we promised her that we would never make her choose. I don't want to have anything more than I have. We make it work, even when we have to make it like we are living apart."

"Why not just live together? Pay is really not that great, and really, there are some great houses in Virginia that are close enough to base with two pays, and whatever you do for a living would be more than enough for it. You two have been friends long enough that no one is going bat an eye at all of you together. Base housing sucks, you are alone most of the time. It's going to be fine. I had a triad that lived in off base housing in San Diego. It was a big house, and they had two other guys from two other teams living with them as well. They were a full triad, and the two guys were in love. We used to rag on her so much about how she dealt with living with four team members.

"No one batted an eye because the main couple of it all were all over each other all the time. It was the perfect cover. The other guy in the relationship went out and stuck out so much with women. The other pair was always hooking up with random women and taking them to random places. No one ever knew they were lesbians or even bi. I knew because I had stopped a gay guy from getting beat up in a bar once. I threw down and beat the shit out of him. They trusted me. One day the two males of the triad retired, and they still had people over, but then it was parties when we got back. The other two never moved out. They are all still here. Retired and all of them living out and proud. I saw them in San Diego's Pride parade last year when I came for it."

Agnew looked at Spencer like he was trying to figure him out. Spencer gave him a big grin.

"You'll have to figure me out on your own, Agnew. All on your damned own."

"Sure. I'll do that. So after dinner, we usually go out to hit some waves," Alana said.

"I've never learned how to surf," Spencer said.

"Really?" Agnew asked.

"Joe couldn't teach me."

"I have no clue how to surf either, and there is no way I can learn. I can't swim well at all anymore. Therapy in the pool sucked as I couldn't tread water well at all."

"Does that sound like something that you want to do today?"

"Sure."

"Ready to order?" the waitress asked as she stepped up with another waitress coming behind with the drinks.

Spencer let the others order before he placed his.

A guy came through with a plate of appetizers that Spencer knew hadn't been ordered when they got there.

"Won-tons. Love these," Agnew said as he grabbed two. He handed one to Alana and then ate the other. Rivera laughed and grabbed one for himself. "We ordered these just before you got here."

"Good choices," Joe said as he grabbed one of the beef on a stick.

Spencer took a won-ton. He dipped it into the sauce and ate it with a smile. Rivera was looking at Spencer like he was trying to figure him out. He knew that Joe told him that the team that picked you became your family, but he didn't think that it would go beyond that, but what Joe had just said there, it was good. That he might be able to be himself with his team at one point, or even just a single part of the team.


	10. Chapter 10

## Chapter 10

### October 2003

There was something to be said for the times that Joe had made Spencer do yoga and that he had kept up with it as much as possible during BUD/S. Graduating BUD/S had been a relief. The schools between there and SEAL Qualification Training were a blip on the radar. Now it was SERE training during SQT, and Spencer was glad that they had already done the cold-weather training in Alaska before this.

Spencer heard the slight crunch of leaves behind him, but he didn't move at all. The point of this whole exercise to make sure that he wasn't caught. Today was the final day on that, and whoever won got a prize of some kind. Spencer would kill just about anyone who was around there just to have a night to read a few new books that his father had sent him. His reading time was sorely lacking.

He was okay with that, though. It wasn't like he needed to do that kind of shit. Reading was fun but his reading time was spent learning the rest of the languages that he would need to help his team in times of need or reports that he had access to as an Officer about things that were going to be going on in the areas where most of the SEAL teams were being deployed.

The sound of more feet in the undergrowth had Spencer flinching, but he didn't move. He was entirely hidden where he was. He had perfected that over the three hours that he had to get there while the instructors were trying to find all of them. Spencer had gone for a good ratio of the distance from the supposed crash site of the Black Hawk versus the earliest time of arrival of hostile forces. He had prepared himself the best that he could. There was a window that they had to make it to, and Spencer was nearly there. The window of time between the crash and the arrival of the team sent to rescue them.

In a regular operation, the time was a lot shorter as there would be help already on hand and near. Still, shit happened, and they planned for the worst-case scenario.

Given the position of the moon in the sky, Spencer had just an hour and a half to go before he was considered in the free and clear.

Spencer just had to make it to that.

The sound of shouting had Spencer holding his breath a little. Someone else had been caught, it seemed. Spencer figured that whoever it was had freaked out and tried to move position when they thought they heard someone walking away from where they were. Spencer wasn't in this group with the same guys that he had gone through BUD/S with. He instead had a five-week course after BUD/S. Junior Officer Training Course had pushed him back enough that no one was in the same place as him. There were many that Spencer didn't miss, but Rivera and Agnew were the only two that he did.

Neither of the Enlisted men had figured out Spencer enough yet to name an orientation, but Spencer wasn't worried about that.

Spencer heard the first gun going off near where he was, but he didn't react at all. They were all carrying guns with rubber bullets in them. To hurt but not kill. This was harsh tactics, and while Spencer had screwed up a good bit during the whole of his SEAL training. He wasn't going to allow himself to fail at this.

The next level wasn't going to be easy. Every single person knew what SERE training was going to end with, and Spencer was not stupid. He knew that things were going to be hard and probably something that he would need therapy to recover from. The thing was that Spencer had no issue talking to therapists. It seemed though that every other person thought that therapists were the devil and were the reason for people leaving the military.

Spencer put his head down into the meat of his arm and closed his mouth over it, using a bit of bunched up sleeve to make sure that he didn't hurt himself if he bit down. The shots were getting closer to him. One of the shots hit close enough that Spencer could feel the dirt hit his neck. Then the next was somewhere in the middle of his back.

The next was just on the other side of him, and Spencer kept his mouth closed around the arm, pretty sure that he bit through to skin with the shot that hit him in the back. He hadn't cried out, though.

The bullhorn echoed around the area, and Spencer sighed and let his body go fully lax. He didn't jump up, though. He didn't move at all other than that.

"Ensign Reid, are you alive?" a voice called out.

"Sir, yes, Sir!" Spencer said loud enough to be heard before he started to push himself up. His body felt a little like jelly at the relief at having made it. He put himself in attention as soon as he was up. He saw that he was just feet away from where the instructors were when they had been trying to find him.

"You made it to the end of this section. One last, and then you'll get assigned to your team."

"Thank you, Sir," Spencer wasn't looking at the man who was talking. At this point in time, with how long he had been awake, remembering the guy's name was at the end of his list.

"The rest of the trainees are going to be going through this again right up until the last leg. You get to go home in a vehicle and rest up. Get a big assed steak dinner, and then you get to start hell."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Follow the man beside you."

Spencer saluted and turned to follow the other guy. He didn't trip even though his body wanted to collapse. He needed to keep his head in the game. There was a lot still left in his training. He just needed to hang on a little longer. He had beaten nearly everyone so far. He didn't have it in him to get less than first place. He needed to make sure that he was going to make it to the end.

"Ensign Reid, you and two other evaded capture the longest. Enjoy."

Spencer walked into the tent he was shown to, and the smell of cooked meat filled his nostrils. He looked at the two guys who were in the tent with him and saw that they were two of the baddest looking assholes that Spencer had been around since he started BUD/S, and that was saying something. He hadn't yet talked to them, ignoring most of the men around him as he trained.

"Ensign Reid," one of them said as he started to stand up, but Spencer waved him down before he collapsed into a chair that was empty at the table it was set for four people, but there was only three. "We were told to go ahead and eat whatever we wanted as they weren't going to allow more than four to win no matter what, but it seems that we are the only three."

Spencer picked up his knife and started to cut his food.

"Would you preferred to be called Doctor Reid in informal settings?" the same guys asked. There was a hiss from the second.

"No. Reid is just fine." Spencer looked up at the names. Weir and Walters. The names were very familiar, one of the commanders loved to pair them together just because they had last names that started with the same letter.

"Do we need to have small talk?" Walters asked.

"Nope. We can sit here and stuff our faces with good assed food." Spencer dug into his. The steak was good and seasoned just enough to not need anything else. The green beans were tender and perfect. Hell, the whole fucking meal was just great.

The tent flaps rustled, and before a single one of the three of them were able to get up and moving, they were waved to stay down.

"Ensign Reid, after you eat report to medical for a check."

Spencer nodded his head. He knew not to talk back and fight on that.

"Are you in pain now?"

"I kind of hurt all over, Sir. The impact point of the bullet doesn't hurt any more than anything else, but then I've not done a lot of moving around."

"Get checked out. They are expecting you and will drag your ass out of your bunk if you skip it."

"Yes, Sir. As soon as I am done eating."

The man left the tent, and Spencer focused on his food again.

"They had to call the horn to tell whoever was left that they had made. I assume that was you?" Walters asked.

"I thought we weren't doing small talk."

Walters glared at him.

"Yes. Just before that, I was shot. They were hitting the undergrowth in the area, and I was covered up pretty well. They had scared someone else who was close to my position just before that. Or I think it was just before that. I got a little lost on time."

"That's weird, right?"

"Eh, not really. Not for me. I knew what was going on around me, but the actual passage of time was just the sky. I'm really damned good at that."

"You are the wiz that everyone was talking about for the book tests on things." Weir had a weird look on his face.

"Yes."

"You know that's the first time I've ever heard someone agree to something like that without making it sound like you are an asshole and too proud."

"My IQ and ability to retain knowledge was shaped before I have any conscious knowledge to do anything about it. I have kept it up, yes, but it's nothing to be proud of. We can't pick those parts of ourselves."

"Like height and hair color."

"I could go onto a babble about food and height. Even the ability to keep someone small even if it's in their genes that they should be tall by not feeding them correctly, but I figure that would just make you guys fall asleep."

Weir laughed, and Walters just smiled. The conversation died again, and they finished off their meals. Spencer stood up with a nod in their direction before he trotted off to the infirmary to get checked out. He was sure that he had a bruise the size of his fist from that bullet. Today's exercise had been without bullet-resistant armor on. The last time they had been wearing it. Spencer didn't regret it, but he was glad that he hadn't been back down.

* * *

The room was dark, but that didn't mean a damned thing to Spencer because he couldn't sleep. The loud screaming of the rock or heavy metal music, whichever it was now, was just a solid presence in the room. He had been alone in the room with the darkness and the music, and it was all that he knew. Time had been lost, the beating of his heart impossible to track. It was angst and just horribleness all around, but Spencer wasn't going to break.

The light came on, and the music stopped. The lights got even brighter to where Spencer couldn't see anything, so he shut his eyes. The pain had been horrible from the darkness anyway, and he could easily just work on getting his eyes adjusted to it all.

For a few seconds, Spencer thought that he heard one of the other guys yelling, but it was just the sound of the door near him opening. He looked, a quick opening of his eyes and he saw that it wasn't his door. It was another of his guys. Another of his people being taken to be tortured again. Spencer got up and started to beat on the door of the room again. He could hear the dull thuds from the others for a few minutes before he heard music turn on again.

It wasn't music. It was the death scream of a thousand birds being repeated over and over again. It changed all of a sudden, and even though Spencer knew what coming out of the mouth of the man on the recording, it was just another form of torture. Spencer recited the words of Boots by Rudyard Kipling over and over again in his head, trying to drown out the noise of the man doing it in a creepy way over the speakers.

The door to Spencer's cells opened while the recording kept on playing. Spencer fought being taken, but he was overpowered by three men.

Handcuffed to a chair, Spencer listened as he was asked question after question. They all blended together for a while.

"He's too quiet, wake him up," a voice called out.

The punch to the gut forced all air from Spencer's lungs with one swift hit.

"Where are you stationed?"

"Spencer Reid. Ensign. 530-28-5555. 10-09-1981."

"That's all you have to say?" There was silence, and then the voice spoke again. "Make him speak again."

Spencer's head was tugged upward, his hair just at the end of where he would need to get it cut, he had been just about due for a trip to the base barber when the SERE training picked up, and things like that were stopped. Spencer was half tempted to go bald the next time.

It was a one-two punch to his gut and then right below his ribs, robbing Spencer of any ability to breathe at all for what felt like hours. He couldn't curl to protect himself. He just existed on a wave of pain and hunger. His thirst was strong as well, but Spencer knew that he could sate that soon. He knew what was coming. Everyone did. It didn't make any of it seem less horrible than it already was.

Spencer was thrown back into his cell, literally thrown into it, and left there as he tried to breathe through bruised ribs. He knew this was just the tip. He just had to last to the end without spilling his secrets.

The hours passed with the music and the constant on and off of the lights to make him not sleep. Sleep deprivation was the first and biggest tool to be used against someone who was being interrogated by enemies.

"Are you ready to talk?" the voice asked. He wasn't sure if it was a different voice or not.

"Spencer Reid. Ensign. 530-28-5555. 10-09-1981."

"I guess not. Let's go."

Spencer was dragged up from where he had just stayed on the concrete floor of the room he was in. He was strapped face up onto something, and it took a few seconds for Spencer to know what was coming next. A towel was thrown over his face, and the water started seconds later. There was no fighting the torture being inflicted on him.

Joe had prepared him for this, though. Not by actually doing it but by talking to Spencer about it. He had been honest that it was going to the worst of his training but knowing that going in was still nothing compared to what it was.

Spencer wasn't sure how long he was asked questions. All he knew was the burn of his lungs, the feel of the water in them. He was pretty sure that he mouthed off to them at one point.

Then just when it was getting to be too much, Spencer was near passing out. It stopped. Spencer shuddered through the aftereffects as he was carried back to where he was going to be staying for a while yet. The music was back this time along with lights that flashed on and off, and even when Spencer covered his eyes with his arm, he could see the flash at the edges. There was no escaping it.

The lights stayed on what seemed like years later, and then there was the sound of the door opening.

"All of your other friends have talked, Ensign. You need to speak up, or this will go worse for you."

"Spencer Reid. Ensign. 530-28-5555. 10-09-1981."

There was a noise that was like a strangled monster to Spencer. It was too much on him, and he started to laugh a little. He grabbed onto the man who lifted him up, and he tried to hold on.

"You have one last chance."

"Spencer Reid. Ensign. 530-28-5555. 10-09-1981." The words were rote. The answer to everything and nothing all at the same time. It took a few seconds for Spencer to realize that he was going into an oil drum. Before he could even react, he was seeing that they were strapping a grate on there. Water was next.

This was the part that Spencer was not looking forward to. Joe had told him that he had hallucinated for most of that part. Spencer hoped that he only did it.

"Tell us what we want to know, and we will let you go. We will let you pick a friend to save as well."

Spencer kept his mouth shut for that one. He didn't need to open it and get whatever was in the water into his mouth. The Code of Conduct started to repeat in Spencer's brain all on its own. He shuddered through the feel of the water on his skin and the tang of the metal and other things that were in his nose. There was such a small opening on the grate, and the light was horrible. He hated it all, but he pushed that away.

He started to talk to himself in his head. He let himself feel that in his bones. I am an American fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist. If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause. I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

It became a mantra inside of Spencer's head until the world was slipping away from him.

"What is the biggest tenant of life?" Joe asked. He wasn't there, though. The voice echoed around Spencer but wasn't anywhere at all.

Spencer looked around where he was. He knew that this was a hallucination. He had one big one after a pain killer had reacted wrong with him. It wasn't anything horrible, just something to stay away from unless it was really needed. Spencer hadn't like that feeling, so he hadn't touched them again. Joe had thrown them out in a local medicine pick-up drive after they were expired. Yes, this all looked like home. Home back in Vegas. His former home. Spencer found that his brain wasn't working the best. It was the home where he had lived with his mother. It looked exactly the same as it had when Spencer had last set foot in it. He saw the frying pan that his mother had started to brandish around. It was horrible to remember it.

"You left me!" Diana screamed, and she came running at Spencer, but he wasn't a twelve-year-old child, and when she started to bring the pan down on his arm, he grabbed it and pulled it away from her.

"You left me first! You stopped caring about me at all!" Spencer yelled, and it was cathartic. Even if this wasn't his mother. It was close enough that Spencer could unleash the last of his demons on this hallucination. "You got lost in your books and stopped giving a shit about me. You only left the house when you had to, and even then, you weren't always going to work. I couldn't make you. I was the child, mother. I was the fucking child, and I had to feed you and clothe you and make sure you took your medication."

"We were doing just fine."

"No, we were not. I was giving up everything that should have been mine. A childhood. You didn't even try and make sure that I had friends. You tried that show where you were the only friend that I needed. You didn't even realize that I was late from school the night I was attacked when Dad finally brought me home."

"He's not your father."

"He's a better father than the man who knocked you up, and he was a hell of a better parent than even you. Don't you fucking tell me he's not my father."

"He turned you against me."

"You did that all on your own. You were lost in your books and in your head. I could have been killed that night on the football field, or worse if they had tied me to that goal post, and I wasn't trained by Joe to fight back. I could have been found by someone who wouldn't have had good things in mind for me, mother. I could have been taken and found broken and raped on the side of the road. You would have been lost in your head."

Diana looked horrible, but Spencer didn't care. These were the things that he had wanted to say to her for years but had been too afraid with her as fragile as she was. She had been fragile for years, and it had helped to shape Spencer into the person that he was. The protector that wasn't strong enough to protect anyone, not even himself. Joe had taught him how to protect himself, and then ROTC, and the Navy taught him how to protect others.

"I had to protect myself and the future that I wanted for myself, even if that future wasn't what you wanted. You lost me a long time ago, Mom. You lost me, and you never knew it because you were wallowing in the pain of father leaving. I had to make the best choice for my own life, and that didn't include you."

"Spencer," Diana said, but she was starting to fade away, the house going with it.

There were other noises filtering into Spencer's mind. The truth behind the hallucination that was going on.

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain." Spencer tipped his face up to the grate of the drum he was in to get a breath of air before he settled down again to relax his body as much as he could. At least until he needed to breathe again.

Spencer repeated the Litany Against Fear again and again until it was all that he knew.

The lid on the drum was worked free, and Spencer tried to focus on the voices around him. He knew one of them. He knew that voice like he knew his own.

"This camp has been liberated," a different voice said.

The words felt false in Spencer's ears. He was jerked up to stand in the drum, and he looked around. The men were certainly dressed in combat gear for the United States Navy, but there was something off. Spencer was about to start to fight the hands-on him, the hands holding him up when he heard that voice again. The voice that he knew. It was impossible, though.

"Come on, Ensign Reid. Come on. Look at me." It was the voice the words filtered through Spencer's mind, and he forced his eyes to look.

Spencer's vision swam a little from not really using his eyes. Then he realized that nearly every single person in the room that wasn't one of the guys Spencer was training with was old. There were guys who were obviously so old they would have been pushed out of the military ten years ago. There were a few that were obviously not in anymore due to injury, like the eye patch guy.

"Ensign Reid," the voice said again, and Spencer's eyes focused on Joe right in front of him. "Let's get you out of this."

"Yes, Sir." It was automatic for him to say it. Joe just laughed and was a stable force as Spencer got himself out of the drum. He looked around as he did, seeing that others were being helped out by the guys who had been interrogating them.

"Sometimes, some of us guys just want to see the faces of people who are happy to see us," Joe said as he helped Spencer get settled on his feet before he grabbed his cane. "It's fun and a good way to reminisce about things."

Spencer nodded his head. He couldn't think enough to respond to that. He tried to form words of thanks, but they were dead on his tongue. The way that Joe was looking at him, though, told Spencer everything that he needed to know.

"Can I get a ride back to Coronado?" Joe asked when they were all finally pulled out of the training camp.

"Sure can, Nutter," one of the other voices called out.

The flight was the longest and the shortest of Spencer's life. He listened as a few of the other older guys who were retired talked about their own SERE training to the guys who had just come out of it.

"How are you doing?" Joe asked as he settled in beside Spencer and looked him up and down.

"Good. Good. I hallucinated Mom. Telling her off for my childhood. The things I never wanted to say to her because they will hurt her and I know that she has her own issues, but not all of what was wrong with my life could be laid at the feet of her illness. She shut down when William left."

The look on Joe's face said a lot more than he could at the moment. Spencer looked around the back of the troop carrier they were on and sighed. It still felt damned good to see Joe's face when he had come out of that. Everyone had passed in the group. They were all going to find a team, and that made Spencer happy.

### November 2003

"Ensign Reid," a voice called out.

Spencer looked up from the book that he was reading, and he let it slip from his lap to land on the seat as he stood up and saluted the man in front of him. "Lieutenant Commander Wright, Sir."

"At ease, Ensign, at ease. You asked for Virginia posting but never gave a reason that wasn't something slightly insane. Explain."

"I don't know what's insane about wanting a new place, Sir." Spencer didn't want to tell him that his father's former team and what was left of those who knew him were still there in Coronado. It wasn't like Spencer was going to keep that part a secret forever.

Wright gave Spencer a glare, but he nodded his head.

"I just need a change of scenery, Sir. I've lived in California for almost half of my life and Vegas before that. Virginia sounds like fun."

"I lost my other Officer for SEAL Team 8 three months ago. The last officer I tried to stick in was run off by my Chief, and I can't say that I disagree with him. I've watched you during SERE training and everything else. Your record is wonderful. You have five languages recognized by the Navy for what you learned while in high school and college but eleven listed total."

"I learned Spanish and French in high school. Caltech was German, Japanese, and Chinese. I was told during SEAL Troop Training that I can take the tests to formally have on my record Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Farsi, Pashto, and Urdu. I learned them on my own as I was told they were a good stepping stone to learning everything else that I would need to help my team."

"That's a lot of languages, son," Wright said.

"Keeping my brain active makes sure that I know what I need to know to do whatever I can to make sure that my team comes home, Sir. I'd do anything to make sure that happens."

"Come and meet your new team, Ensign Reid."

Spencer felt his stomach drop through the floor. He had a team? SEAL Team 8 at that. He followed behind Wright as he walked through the halls to where there was a briefing room full of fourteen other men. Spencer took in the faces and saw that there were two faces that he knew in there. Rivera and Agnew. Both looked happy as fuck to see him. Every single one of the fourteen stood up and saluted Spencer when he was introduced.

"Ensign Reid, this is your team. Master Chief Special Warfare Officer Christopher Young. Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Bradley Torres. Chief Special Warfare Operators Paul Evans, Daniel Diaz, and Kenneth Long. Special Warfare Operators 1st Class Anthony Abbot, Kevin Martinez, and Scott Flores. 2nd Class Larry Alcott, Peter Ramirez, and Harold Acker. 3rd Class Nicholas Agnew, Bruce Kellett, and Gregory Rivera."

"Hello," Spencer said as he started around the table to shake all of their hands.

The rest of the meeting full of talk about the team as a whole and what they did. They were one of the teams that went all over the world. They were in Coronado for a bit of training before heading home to Little Creek, Virginia.

"How long do you need to move house?" Wright asked when the Enlisted men were all gone from the room.

"No, time, Sir. I can pack my stuff here and sort it for transport and be ready to go with you to Virginia. I'll stay in on-base housing until my father gets home moved. He's coming with me. He's just been waiting to see if I was joining a team here at Coronado or Little Creek."

"He's packing up his life?"

"He was Navy, Sir. He wants what he can have of time with me."

"I don't remember ever working with a Reid. Probably have, though. Well, take today to talk to him."

"He's back home in Pasadena, Sir. I'll call him, and he's start hunting. He's got friends who will make sure that he finds a nice place."

Wright just gave Spencer a weird look, but Spencer didn't care. He was on a team. He was fucking happy that he was on a team. He had a family, even if he wasn't sure what the hell to do with that family.

"Hey, don't worry about base housing," Agnew said as he leaned against the doorway of the room.

"What?" Spencer asked as he looked up at him.

"Alana would kill us if we let you stay here. She practically forced us to pick a house before we were ready to settle on one because she hated us staying in base housing for longer than we needed to. We liked base better than hotels. She also hated base housing. You weren't a military brat like some, so I know you never lived in base housing."

"How do you know that?"

"You don't act like it. I've seen enough of them. So come back to ours when we land, call your dad. Tell him the news, and you can enjoy your time with Alana's cooking until she deems whatever place your dad buys is good enough for you to live in."

Spencer laughed and grabbed his things from the table that he had been given. Missions that they might be sent on as spin-ups even though they had three members who were new. Spencer was going to join Agnew and Rivera in where they were for their SEAL Troop Training and catch up to where they were with ease. Spencer was looking forward to Sniper school to see if he had what it took to become one of the best on the team. It was always good to have a spare sniper. Even if Spencer wasn't the best.

"After we all get settled back home, we will do a night out. Get to know you better while drunk."

Spencer laughed, and he let Agnew pull him from the room. There was a lot to do.

"Rivera's getting your shit put together. Don't worry. We watched you mess with it enough that he knows how it goes. You'll probably have to fix it once we land, but that won't be his fault."

"How's Alana doing with the change of scenery?"

"She's happier to be back on the East coast. She's gonna like not having New York winters."

"I'm glad that I got on the team with at least a few people who liked me from BUD/S."

"Well, Wright asked our opinions on you since we had gone through that with you. We said you would need a lot of training but that it would better to train a blank slate than to retrain someone who had too many issues."

"So it was me or retraining?" Spencer asked.

"No. You were the only one that he liked, and he was trying, I think, to find a reason not to get you."

"Yeah." Spencer liked that. He knew that a lot of other Officers were going to look at him and think that he was in it all for the book smarts more than anything, but he had proven he could do the rest. He was going to keep on proving.

* * *

Spencer loved Little Creek, Virginia. He had been staying with Alana, Rivera, and Agnew, and while that wasn't the greatest, he was seeing a lot of other places that he loved and wouldn't mind living in. Joe had the last pick of the seven houses that Spencer had found near enough to the base to make him happy.

There was a bar close to the base as well, it saw its fair share of base personnel. It wasn't that full today, which was good considering that the entire team was there. It was Spencer's welcome drink. A chance for them to get to know each other outside of the uniform and the difference in ranks.

Everyone was having fun.

"Reid," Wright called out and waved Spencer over. He handed him the cue and waved at the balls that were set up to be broken. "Your turn to try and knock down Long."

"Heh, he's not got what it takes," Long said as he leaned against the edge of the pool table opposite where Spencer was.

"I've got 100 on Reid," Rivera said as he laid it down next to Spencer's beer when he set it down. Agnew was there with another hundred under the glass. The rest of the team put down money for Long.

Spencer broke the balls and was happy when a solid sunk itself. He looked at the table and grinned. It was pretty well perfectly laid out.

"So have any of you asked where he grew up?" Agnew asked.

"He's from Pasadena," Long said.

Spencer glanced at Long to see that he was watching the second ball that Spencer sunk. He was looking a little worried.

"No, that's where he went to college, he got a few degrees and took a lot of classes on physics, even if he didn't get a degree in it."

"I'm five classes away from a bachelor's in physics, by the way," Spencer said as he sunk his third ball without missing.

"Just where were you born?" Acker asked as he looked at the table with a bit of worry on his face as well.

Spencer kept his mouth silent as he sunk three more balls. He gave Long a grin before he sunk the last solid ball and then moved to get the angle he needed for the eight ball.

"Never bet against the house, boys," Spencer said as the eight ball rolled into the pocket.

Agnew was the one to snatch up the money. He split in half and started to hand that to Spencer.

"Nah, three ways." There was enough for that, with all sixteen of them giving up one hundred.

"Ten for you and then four for each of us. It's not like we did a damned thing." Rivera took the money and split it up that way and slipped his into a pocket before handing Spencer his and then Agnew his.

Spencer glared, but he took it and slipped it into his pocket.

"Plus, it's not going to work on any of these guys again," Agnew said with a grin on his face.

"How did you do that?"

"The table is well cared for. There are no divots, and it's replaced frequently enough; there are no worn spots. Given that the cues are as well maintained as they are, it was all just angles and pressure."

"Never ever take a bet from a Vegas boy," Joe said as he stepped up to the table.

Agnew looked like he was going to greet him, but Spencer laid his hand on Agnew's arm to stop him. Rivera looked confused, but Spencer gave him a wicked grin.

"Nutter, you old dog. You still kicking around? What are you doing here?"

"Just moving here to Little Creek. I heard this was the place to see if I could find an old buddy. Wasn't expecting your face."

Wright walked up to Joe and shook his hand. Wright brought him in for a hug.

"Why are you moving here?" Wright stepped back and looked Joe up and down, his eyes settling on Joe's leg.

"My son was one of the latest batches of SEALs to get stationed here. I wanted to set down roots where he is," Joe answered.

"I didn't know you had a son."

"I adopted him when he was a near teenager. He grew up fast and is one of the most honorable men.”

"This is my team, such as it is. SEALs tried and true every single one. This is retired Master Chief Petty Officer Joseph Nutter."

Spencer listened as Wright introduced every single one of the team and saved Spencer for last. Agnew and Rivera looked a little confused at the name. Spencer hated a little bit that he had never corrected Agnew and Rivera on Joe's last name, but he hoped they understood him. Spencer could tell when Agnew put who Joe was together with the name.

"And my new junior Officer, Ensign Spencer Reid."

Spencer walked toward Joe, and he waited to see what Joe wanted to do. This was the moment, but there were a lot of ways to play it. Joe held out his hand, but as soon as Spencer took it, Spencer stepped in to hug him.

Joe looked proud. Prouder than the moment that Spencer had graduated BUD/S, high school, and every single degree that he had earned all together. It was that pride that had Spencer smiling back at him as he closed the last of the distance between them. Joe hugged him tight, and it was that simple gesture that Spencer missed most about not living with Joe.

"I-" Agnew started and stopped as Spencer finally let go of Joe. "You little fucking shit."

"You never asked my last name, Nick," Joe said as he shook his hand when Agnew stepped closer to him.

"No, no, we didn't." Agnew laughed.

"So, you are serious?" Young asked as he stepped closer to where Spencer and Joe were still standing.

"Yes, Chris. I would never lie to you." Joe was still grinning as he said it. "Chris here was just starting on SEAL Team 7 when I was the old dog on my team. I hadn't heard you moved."

"It was offered after eight." Young looked at Wright, and he gave him a nod. "Eight needed a strong leader a while back, so I stepped up."

Spencer took that to mean that most of the team had been killed. It wasn't as rare as anyone would like it to be.

The guys broke off into pairs or even trios to talk, and somehow Spencer ended up with Joe, Wright, and Young at a table. Most of the team was just happy that Spencer wasn't as green as they thought he was. Having another SEAL as a parent, even adopted, seemed to make him someone that they could trust even more now.

"You know, for as smart as he is, Reid struck me as strange," Young said.

"His ability to just turn off his brain and focus on an issue and then go right back?" Joe asked. He gave a little laugh when Young nodded.

"That among a lot of other things."

"I'm perfect the way I am." Spencer put forth, which just made Joe laugh harder.

"You are perfect the way you are. You are practically perfect in every way to me."

"So, how did you come to adopt him?" Wright asked.

"He was teaching me to defend myself when my mother became too ill to take care of me. He didn't even hesitate to take me and hasn't regretted it, at least I don't think so."

"Reid, get your ass over here!" Long called out.

Spencer walked over to the pool table where Long had the balls racked up again and shoved a cue at him. It was going to be a long night, but it was going to be well worth it. He would soothe over Agnew and Rivera's worries and make sure that they knew that no one knew, only those who figured it out or knew who Joe was on sight.


	11. Chapter 11

## Chapter 11

### July 2007

Agnew was at the front of the Humvee, driving like a horde of demons were chasing them, and really, they kind of were. What was supposed to be a simple meeting between their CIA asset and an informant had ended up being a trap. They had been prepared for that but not the hell hole that the trap had actually been. Comms had been cut, and the helicopter sent to give them cover for escape had been blown up.

"Doc?" Agnew asked.

Doc had been something that had been a surprise, but it had started about a year after Spencer had joined the team. Unless everything was formal, even Wright called him that.

"I'm looking." Spencer had memorized the entire area, but finding a path that would take them far enough away from where they were and into safety was hard to follow. The second rendezvous point was the other direction, and they couldn't get to it with the line of terrorists that had come from that way. The intel for the area was horrible. "Two klicks and the road should Y. Take the left."

"You got it," Agnew said.

"I'm out," Alcott said.

Spencer moved to swap positions with him to fire at the vehicles behind them. The firing of the gun was calming to Spencer. He had this to focus on. The rest of the team that was with him was going to pay attention to everything else. He just had to kill those behind them so they could make as clean of a getaway as they could.

Lining up the shot as best he could, Spencer waited for the truck behind them to go into the turn they just came out of, and he fired. One shot in the head of the driver and the second lower down through the engine of the truck. He kept firing after that at the rest of the truck until it was flipping over from the death of the driver. He worked on the second truck after that, but it was too far away for him to line up shots like that. The firing, though, was keeping the truck from getting too close for now.

"Out!" Spencer called when he fired his last shot. He slipped to the side as Torres swapped with him. Alcott was already firing again at a different point. It was the rotation they did while Agnew drove. They had more than enough ammo in the Humvee to last them a while.

"INCOMING!" Agnew shouted.

"What the fucking hell!" Alcott jerked open the door to the Humvee, and he was getting out.

Spencer grabbed the ammo bags as well as back up weapons before he climbed out the back of the vehicle. He had swapped for different ammo, so he started to fire as he high tailed it to the hill where Agnew and Torres were already running. Alcott was behind him, and he laid down cover fire to make sure that he made it with them. The truck that was behind was coming toward them at a quick clip. Spencer settled down with his gun and got a shot through the engine, and it sputtered. The driver was still alive, so the vehicle didn't flip like before, but that was okay. There was no mounted turret on this truck. It was just the foot soldiers they had to worry about.

The Humvee blew with force, and Spencer felt the blast wave from it. The people after them had RPGs.

"Clear," Agnew called out.

Spencer kept moving backward until a hand was on his shoulder. He stopped there, ready to fire at anything that moved below them. The comm was crackling in his ear. He could hear the attempts at talking from Wright, but there was nothing that was anything close to words.

A few trucks were headed toward them from far away. They did not have the kind of position that Spencer would like to have at the moment. It really fucking sucked. Help was coming, and Spencer knew precisely where they were at the moment. They had not fled too far from the meeting location, and they had not gone in a bunch of twists and turns.

"Swap," Agnew said after a few minutes.

"Sure." Spencer let Agnew get in front of him. Alcott and Torres were looking around behind and beside them to make sure no one came up from those areas. The hill had some trees and foliage. It wasn't the best spot in the world, but it was what they had. Spencer clicked the radio and started to talk. He filled it with their coordinates as best he could figure. It wouldn't be long before someone was coming after them. He would get them out of there.

"Fuck, Doc?" Torres called out.

Spencer turned, his hand falling from the radio as he saw the red lights on Torres and Alcott's throats. More appeared. There was even one center mass on Spencer's chest. Even with the armor, it would be enough to drop him, and then they could do the kill shot.

"Ag, drop the gun," Spencer said. Right now, they had no clue what they were facing. Whoever they were though they had the whole team in their sights.

"Just what we wanted. A couple of Americans to trade-off," a voice said. It was cultured and British. The man was tall, and Middle Eastern in complexion went to school, and probably raised in London. It was not that strange to see it either.

More red dots appeared, and Spencer knew that they were fucked. They needed to wait for someone to come to them or fight now and die. It was a horrible decision. Waiting meant torture at the hands of these people, but rescue was not far behind. Troops were being readied before they had lost contact. Help was going to come, and they would be able to follow them. They had eyes in the sky on them right now.

The trip to the facility that looked like it used to be a warehouse was short. While their heads were covered up, Spencer knew the angles of the movement of the vehicle. It was something fun that the team had figured out he could do with his spatial awareness so while other teams did drills for the millionth time, his had been working on making sure that he could get them out of anywhere at any time using his weird assed brain as they lovingly called it.

They were shoved into a room that looked like a supply room of some kind. The door was locked and barred from the outside.

"That's not gonna help us."

"Go through everything," Spencer said he started to ransack the shelf that was behind him. There were mostly empty bottles of a lot of random things, and he let his eyes dart over every single label of items that had anything in them. The shelves were stacked in front of the door for now, after they were emptied. It was a good barrier to give them time to get into defensive positions. They had been stripped of everything that they could use at all. Everything was lined up, and empty bottles were let to linger in the spaces of the shelves.

"So with the shelves stacked like they are, we can get to the ceiling. Agnew, check that out," Spencer ordered.

Agnew started to climb with Torres bolstering him up and holding onto the shelves to make as little noise as possible.

"Drop ceiling," Agnew said before he popped his head back down.

"Good. Good. Let's see what we got going here."

"I see a window. I'm going to go over and look. It's five feet away. I'd say we are in a closet by a closet in the corner, given what I see."

"Keep quiet."

"I will."

Spencer listened as he was pushed up into the ceiling by Alcott and then made his way toward the wall on the other side. Spencer worked through what they had in their stacks and what he could do with it.

"Anyone have some paper on them?" Spencer asked.

"I do." Torres pulled out a small notebook from his back pocket. It was shocking that it hadn't been taken from him. There was a metal spiral at the top, pushed down to where it wasn't anything like a spiral anymore. He looked through the notebook and saw that there was evidence of ripped out sheets but no current writing in it. He tore out three pages before handing it back.

"Keep that out. I'm going to need the metal ring in a few minutes."

"Sure. I'll just get that out."

Spencer carefully flattened the paper as well as he could before rolling it up. He did it for each sheet before flattening them into a long strip. It wasn't but the work of a few minutes until he had what he wanted. He grabbed three jugs, two were half full of chemicals, and the last was empty. He set up what he wanted, making sure that the chemicals were all flowing at the rate that he wanted down the paper and into the empty jug. It would be a little while before it was set up enough to make the smoke that he wanted, but he could speed that up with a little of another chemical.

"Time delay fuse of sorts?"

"Yeah, we did this all the time in Chem class at Caltech. I even did it in a teacher's room once. Makes a lot of smoke once it gets going. Two to one ratio, so the paper is kind of perfect.

"What about this?" Torres handed over the wire.

Spencer used a finger to wrap it around it, and then he looked around for Alcott, who was up on the shelves, keeping an eye in the rafters and on Agnew.

"Alcott, gonna grab your knife," Spencer said as he stepped up to him and started to fiddle with his belt buckle. The knife popped out easily.

Spencer used that to make a small hole in the lid of a third, smaller bottle before he slipped the spring he made up into it and then tipped the bottle over and braced it where it wasn't going to fall down. The chemical was going to strip the metal down, and that would help speed up the smoke. About thirty seconds later, smoke started to pour out of the jug.

"Alcott, up into the rafters," Spencer ordered. "Torres, you are next."

"You got it, Doc," Torres said. He moved over to where he could make it up there and waited until Alcott was up. Spencer readied himself just as he heard voices coming closer. He clambered up the shelves and grabbed the edge of the open area to pull himself up. Two hands grabbed him and helped get him up faster. Spencer grabbed the tile piece and dropped it back into place.

"This is the outer wall. I can see a door ten feet down, but I have no clue what is in that door.

The sound of banging on the door and then the sound of the shelves being moved echoed around the area. Spencer grinned as all it was going to do was nothing really. He had set up the smoke in the far corner of the room on a bucket, and the chance of the shelves being moved to hit and stop the smoke was almost zero.

"Let's see about getting guns."

"Or our shit," Alcott said.

"What?" Spencer looked where Alcott was. The man was pointing down. There was a small hole cut in a tile in that room and a thick cable running out it. Spencer moved over to look. It was indeed their gear. Spencer moved around enough to where he couldn't see anyone in there.

"Nothing to land on, though. Lower me down. I'm the lightest of all of us. I'll grab what I can and hand it back up."

"Sure."

It was no time at all for Spencer to get himself into position after removing the tile piece next to the one with the cable. He waited until he felt the hands on his legs before he scooted forward and let his upper body drop down into the room slowly. He grabbed the first kit he could see and handed it up through the tile that was open to the side of him. It was efficient and easy.

"Lower me down a little more. I can't get the last gun." Spencer tried to nab it, but it was just a little too far down on the desk. Their stuff had been packed together, probably so that they could easily match who had what. Spencer slipped down another six inches with the hands on his legs holding him tight enough there would be bruises. He grabbed it and started to lift up, and he was tugged back into the ceiling, and the tiles were replaced.

"I found a spot," Alcott said as soon as they were all geared up again as well as they could get in the space that they had.

"Let me see." Spencer followed where Alcott was. He had started to get dressed in his gear as soon as he had been handed it, and Spencer was done handing him things. Spencer strapped his vest on the rest of the way and slipped over to where Alcott was. The men were still screaming and shouting near the area where they had been trapped. The smoke was starting to fill the ceiling area as well.

The sound o the shelves finally giving way was heard. Spencer knew that they needed to double-time it out of there. He saw that Alcott was sitting on a tile that was damned close to where the door was. Another tile had a hole like the other but no cable in it. The room looked to be empty.

"Let's go slow," Spencer whispered.

They all froze as the sound of fire extinguishers filled the area. Spencer kept his laugh to himself. That was just going to make the smoke worse. Torres was the first down into the room, his back to the wall, his eyes on both doors. Alcott was next followed by Spencer and then Agnew.

"What's it like outside?"

"Empty. I didn't see any guards moving at all, and there were no watchtowers. I think they use the fact that it looks abandoned to keep people out. They probably have watchers, but I don't know.

The door that led inside opened up, and Spencer was the first to raise his gun the rest of the way. The man on the other side made a noise that sounded a lot like he was choking on his words, but Agnew was up there first, slitting his throat.

"Get out," Spencer hissed, and he started to back up. The sound of yelling was coming closer. The smoke was curling around the edge of the open doorway. Agnew let the body drop, and then they were all turning and running like bats out of hell. There was a tree line at the edge, and they all made for that.

The terrorists all left the building, a few were covered in blood, probably from falling on their dead friend. Spencer kept his team quiet as the building started to burn.

"What the hell was that?" Agnew whispered in Spencer's ear.

"The fire extinguishers turned the smoke hotter, and I would say that it ignited the paper and probably tarted a whole mess of a fire in that room."

Agnew about said something else, but Spencer held up his hand for silence. He heard a noise. Spencer shoved his earpiece in and heard just the same crackle that he had before. He clicked to a different channel, and then another. He went back to the main one and left the piece in. He could ignore the crackle, and it would help to make sure whatever was blocking this was noticeable if it was gone.

Everyone crouched as the roar of vehicles got closer and closer. Then the sound of a jet engine's whine was next.

"That's our boys," Spencer said as he stood up and started to head in the direction the vehicle noise was coming from. He kept them back far enough from the little road into the area where the now burning building was, and he waited. The Humvees slowed down as the smoke from the building started to rise higher and higher.

Then the vehicles just stopped altogether.

"Who wants to take the bet that Doc did that?" Wright asked as he stepped out of the second vehicle. The other eleven members of the team flooded out of the Humvees. They were all kitted for war.

"Gotta leave a smoke trail," Spencer said as he stepped out of the tree line with the other three behind him. "Not my fault they had the one fire extinguisher that was rated the way that would set off an actual fire instead of making more smoke."

"Which you were counting on," Wright said.

"Yes, Sir."

"Leave anyone alive?"

"Only one dead we know of. We were more worried about getting out and waiting for rescue than anything else. Comms get fixed?"

"Nope. We've piggybacked off old school stuff to keep in contact with HQ. Let's get these guys rounded up. The rest of the platoon is behind us and going to clear this place out. How far away are we?"

"Just on the other side of the tree line, Sir," Alcott said.

"Good. Good. Let's go get us prisoners, and we can see what they wanted you four for."

The clean up of the area was quick and simple, and then they were back at their base of operations. The debrief and discussion took hours, but Spencer was on top of it the whole way, including figuring out what device was being used to block communications.

Spencer was still knee-deep in everything when a cup of something was placed at his arm, and a plate of food was next. He found it was a BLT, and the cup was milk.

"Thanks." Spencer grabbed the sandwich and took a bite that stuffed his entire mouth. He settled his papers down onto the table and leaned back in the chair, feeling the ache of the muscles as he moved from the position he had been in for the last three hours. "You lost?"

"Huh?" Kellett looked a little shocked at Spencer's words. He had been jumpy since coming back to the team just before they had deployed overseas.

"In the care and feeding of Doc game."

"Ah, yeah. Agnew and Rivera were on another duty for the night, so I lost at rock, paper, scissors."

"They cheat."

"How do they cheat?"

"They all know who is going to do what so they play around and learn what you do. It's a habit, what you do each time. Next time start with paper."

"Thanks. So how are you settling in?"

"Good. It's been...weird coming back here after..." Kellett waved his hand.

"Eh, I didn't lose my parents in a grand fashion like that. They are both still alive, but my mom couldn't take care of me, and William wanted nothing to do with them. I can't even imagine what I would do if I lost Dad. You'll get back there, back to who you were, just a little different."

"I'm an only kid."

"Oh, I know. We are the stands outs in the group. Even the other only kids had enough cousins that they didn't feel like they were or a best friend that that was so close that it wasn't a fight at all." Spencer finished off his sandwich and grabbed the milk to drink it down.

Spencer went back to his papers, and Kellett just watched him or would poke at other papers.

"Dessert time, Doc," Torres called as he entered the room. A few of the other guys came in as well, including Young, who was carrying a piece of cake for Kellett.

"How come Doc gets the bigger piece?"

"Because he saved my ass today," Torres said. He laid down what looked like a good eighth of the cake down in front of Spencer.

Despite the fact that Spencer was well on par with how he should be for his height, the team fed him desserts like crazy. The yard time was insane, and for the Enlisted was a lot of what kept them from going insane in the downtime between missions. Spencer joined them as much as possible.

The near three years that he had been on the team had been like nothing even with the downtime between deployments. It was horrible and fucked up that life was normal when he was over here.

"Gotten a care package from your dad lately?" Flores asked.

"Nope. I expect I'll get it in a week or so. I'm sure there will be things in there for everyone." Spencer looked back down at the map, and it showed the burned-out husk of the place they had been held in for the short time that they had been. There was a lot more area to check, but now they had three points on the map, and Spencer could start to do something with that."

"What is that?" Abbot asked.

"It's something that that BAU at the FBI uses."

"BAU?"

Spencer looked at Abbot and smiled. "Behavior Analysis Unit. I figure that's where I would have ended up if I had washed out of getting into the Navy."

"Not another branch?" Young asked.

"Nope, Navy or bust. It's a geographic profile. For the people they hunt, it tells them two things, their area where they feel safest and therefore don't hunt or drop bodies and the areas where they do hunt and or drop bodies if they are different. I'm using it to learn where these fuckers feel safe. More points are better, and I can narrow shit down."

"That's actually kind of cool. That was the book you were reading, right? That one with a predator in the title." Abbot asked.

"Yeah. Dad ships me as many books as he can. It never takes me long at all for me to read them, but then I don't have as much time for reading this go around with all of the intel. The library here on base, though, is getting an influx in things. I've tried to add more fiction, but there is only so much of it I can read that's not spy novels."

"You mean the work you do for Wright," Torres said.

"It takes me seconds to read most pages, so it's insane not to take advantage of that. He does some of the stuff I would normally do in response. I can sum up the stupidly long briefs into what he needs."

"No, I wasn't mocking. I was just making sure that I knew what you were talking about. I've seen you take in that shit in seconds and then explain it in terms that are nowhere near as technically as they should be."

"I got good at that in school. Helped keep the basketball team from failing out of the team while also not doing their homework for them."

"You know Doc, I think you could tame a feral werewolf," Torres said as he finished off his cake.

"That's what Dad told me once. If I was able to talk long enough, I could make anyone not want to kill me."

The conversation turned to other things, more away from Spencer thankfully. Then it was just a bunch of male posturing that actually calmed Spencer down enough to where he thought he could sleep. He bid his goodnight to the team and slipped out with his papers to find his room. There was enough space at the current that the Officers didn't have to share, but the team was in two-man pairings for the rooms. Agnew and Rivera were sharing like always, but Torres wasn't sharing with Young, he had snagged a room with Kellett which Spencer was glad about. The young man was still reeling a little from the loss of both of his parents in a fire. He had passed all of the psych evaluations needed to get him onto the team again, but he was a little lost on what he was going to do after that.

There was a stack of books on Spencer's bed with a note from one of the CIA assets that Spencer had never met before but knew his notes from the files that he read of his. Spencer didn't talk to many people unless he had to. He talked to his team, and that was about it. Spencer didn't feel lonely at all. He loved what he did.

Missions were rare that he went out on, usually something like what he had done the day before with the team to have eyes on the ground and if he was the only one that spoke the language needed. It was the weirdest family in the world, but it was family to Spencer.

### November 2007

"Hey-" Spencer stopped the words that were getting ready to say when he saw that Joe was asleep on the couch, a warm beer on the table and pizza half-eaten on the coffee table. The flight home had been delayed due to a storm over the Atlantic, so instead of getting home three hours ago, Spencer was now getting home at ten at night. It sucked, but it was what it was.

Spencer grabbed the beer and drained it quickly before cleaning up the mess around the area. There was a steak place that was open late as hell to deal with base people, and that was what Spencer had been craving for the six months that he had been overseas.

"Hey, old man," Spencer said as he walked back into the living room. He settled on the coffee table and used his foot to kick at Joe's side a little. Joe jerked a little on the couch, and his eyes cracked open some before opening up the rest of the way. He stretched on the couch, and his hand went for the cane.

"Welcome home. I wish you would let me pick you up."

"The last time we went out with the guys and while I don't mind that I like my first night home to be about you, Pops."

"You could say that."

"Not when they look at you like you are their God or something. There's the fact you made it home. The fact that you are sane compared to some of the guys. You aren't a twitching mess of fear and anger. Or filled with paranoia. I like that they like you, but I don't like to share. You know that."

"No, I do. Steak?"

"God, yes," Spencer said. He stood up and moved toward the stairs.

It took little time at all for him to get cleaned up from the flight and then get changed into good clothes. The steak place wasn't upscale by any means, but Spencer liked to look nice when they went there. He wore other clothes too much of the time, and he would just rather be comfortable. Most people probably found other clothes comfortable, but Spencer liked these kinds of clothes. He had spent a long time figuring it out, and so he was glad that he had found something that he liked. He had more than enough suits, but sometimes just a single button up and then a vest over it was great with a good pair of slacks. Alana called him hot professor when he came over looking like it, but he wasn't going to say that he didn't like it.

The drive to the steak house was short, and Spencer found that even though it was dark, he loved the city like this. Spencer parked his Jeep in front of the place at a spot that was close enough that Joe wouldn't have an issue but also far enough away that he wasn't going to be taking up spots that were closer for those that were worse off than him.

Spencer closed his eyes and inhaled at the smell of the cooking meat. These were the kinds of things that he missed. This was heaven on earth, this and a good book.

"Let's go before you orgasm from the smell."

"DAD!" Spencer looked at Joe and started to laugh when he saw that Joe was laughing at him.

Spencer followed behind Joe as they made their way up to the doors. He saw there was a line, and Spencer hung back. Joe kept on going. Spencer wasn't settled enough to be inside with the throng of people waiting for a table. The night was beautiful, even for November, so Spencer was more than happy to hang around outside.

"I can't believe that you are leaving," a woman said.

"You knew that I was on call this weekend, Haley. I'm the Unit Chief, I can't say no to them because my wife wants me home."

"I swear, Aaron, if you leave tonight, I'm going to not be home, Jack, or I when you get back from the case."

"Make sure to let me know where you are so I can pick up Jack to see him."

Spencer watched the man walk away. He was young, not Spencer young but not old at all. There was something in his face that Spencer knew that he had seen before. Someone at a lecture or even a briefing of some kind. Case meant law enforcement of some kind of a lawyer. Spencer was pretty sure that he wasn't a lawyer, though.

"You'll have divorce papers when you get back!"

Aaron just waved his hand back at her. Haley growled and stomped after him. She looked to be several months pregnant.

"It's not like you fucking care! You aren't even the father of this kid!"

Aaron stopped and just stared at her. He looked devastated and pissed off all at the same time. Spencer felt like he should leave where he was leaning against the side of the building, but so far, neither of them had noticed him, and he didn't want to draw that much attention to himself.

"I'll have my lawyer draw up the divorce papers. I'm getting partial custody of Jack, Haley, and if that child is mine, her as well. Expect a paternity test the moment that she is born."

"Why couldn't you just move up like I wanted you to! Why couldn't you do what I wanted?"

"We made the joint decision for me to move to the BAU, Haley. You wanted to come home from Seattle. You have no right to tell me what I do with my career any further than that. Now please stop; we are making a scene. I'll make sure the papers are drawn up as soon as possible. You'll forfeit your right to half of anything and no alimony because there was a prenup."

Then Aaron was just gone. Haley stomped around like a child.

"Hales?" another woman asked, and Haley turned around. She didn't see Spencer standing there.

"He's gone."

"Did you really cheat on him?" the other woman asked.

"Don't give me that look." Haley rubbed at her arms and sighed. She looked nearly in tears.

"Oh, don't cry at me, Haley Marie. You do that to mom and dad all the time, and you get what you want."

Haley sneered at who Spencer assumed was her sister. This was the kind of thing that Spencer really should not be listening to, but at the moment, he was afraid of the spectacle that Haley would start up, and there was the chance she would get violent with him.

"Why can't he just do what I want!" Haley sounded like a spoiled child.

"Because he's not a child and he's got a life behind all of his choices. You can't make all of them for him. It's not my fault that you were waiting on him to take a run at senator or governor or whatever you want so you can be a political wife. You wanted that, not the man he was. You might love him, but he loves you with everything that he is. He's given up a lot in his life to make you happy, but we both know that he will never give up his job to make you happy. Never. So you had better figure out what you want, your husband, or being a trophy wife."

Spencer watched as the two ladies walked into the restaurant again, and Spencer breathed a sigh of relief that lasted right until he saw the man coming back up. He didn't go inside, though. He was on the phone and pacing back and forth at the bottom near the cars. Spencer saw that his clothes were changed, and it took a few seconds for him to recognize that he was wearing two guns. One on his hip and the other on his ankle.

"Yeah, JJ, I'll leave from Norfolk and join you guys at the location. Have Morgan lead the team through the case. I have a spare go-bag in my office." Aaron nodded his head for a few seconds. "You are a mind reader. Thank you." Another few seconds pause. "Yes, my birthday dinner with Haley's sister was going over well. Jack was enjoying his mashed potatoes as much as a two-year-old can. I'll text you as soon as I have a-" Aaron laughed. "Okay, then. Tell Garcia, thank you, and I'll see you soon."

Aaron hung up the phone and looked around. Unlike Haley, though, his eyes didn't just glance over Spencer. Spencer gave the man a nod and then looked up into the sky. Aaron didn't come up to talk to him, thankfully. A taxi came a few minutes later, and Spencer watched him leave. It wasn't until Spencer saw him as he was going away that Spencer realized where he knew him from. Aaron Hotchner from the BAU. He shook his head and just watched the world around him until he heard the door open, allowing the sounds of the inside to come outside.

"Let's go," Joe called out.

Spencer pushed off the wall and marched inside to join Joe. He could see the waitress leading him around to where they were going to sit. Spencer made his way through the crowd to where they were. It was interesting to see the people around. He saw that they were close to where Haley and Jessica were. Not close enough to hear. There were two other people at the table, another woman who was older and a man. There were enough features between them that Spencer was pretty sure that they were Haley and Jessica's parents. And then there was the little boy in the high chair who was stuffing what looked like mac and cheese into his mouth.

"So, how was the deployment overall?"

"Good. A few close shaves, but the worst injuries were shallow knife wounds and a single through-and-through through Torres' arm. Well that and Kellett falling the last day we were there when one of the people playing soccer kicked a ball, and it ricocheted under his foot when he was taking a step. Broke his damn arm. He's going to stay on duty and sit out the things that he can't, but the kid will go insane if he's put on medical leave."

"It's funny, you calling him a kid when you are pretty much the same age."

Spencer shook his head. He was one of the younger on the team, along with the other guys who started on the team at the same time. "Yeah, I know, but he's-" Spencer stopped as the waiter came to the table to take their drink and appetizer order. Spencer wanted the cheesy and bacon fries that they had. Joe never turned them down, and he smiled when Spencer ordered them. A quick glance over the menu, and Spencer knew what he was going to order. The sides had changed with the season, and Spencer was more than happy to try two of the new ones.

"I know that none of the guys who are around your age are as mature as you. I hate that, but it's the truth, so I do understand why you call him a kid. That baby face of his doesn't really help either."

"No. He gets carded so much when we are home."

"Thanks," Joe said as the waiter dropped off their drinks.

Spencer had a beer, his only of the night as he wanted to be clear-headed to drive. Joe took a sip of his beer and made a happy noise.

"So, what are your plans for your downtime?"

"The college is gonna allow me to test for a few new languages and see if I pass them and add them to my degrees and such."

"God, I don't understand why you give a fuck if I am sleeping around on my husband," Haley announced loudly to the room.

Spencer looked over at her, and he frowned as she stood up and seemed to swoon on the spot. Spencer really hoped she hadn't been drinking. Not with being pregnant. She started to move in a way that Spencer knew well. He shoved himself out of the booth and jumped a table to catch her as she began to fall backward. Spencer laid her down on the ground and pressed two fingers to her neck. Her pulse was erratic.

"She had issues with her last pregnancy," Jessica supplied.

"Dad, call 911. We have a pregnant woman who is in distress. Make sure they send someone who knows what the fuck they are doing." Spencer looked up at Jessica and frowned, but he sighed. "Call the husband. He got a taxi after you two went inside, so he's probably just boarding at Norfolk or getting ready to if the plane was leaving soon."

"How did you know?"

"No one ever looks around to see who is there when they get into fights." Spencer kept his fingers on Haley's pulse and hoped that the EMTs got there soon. Her pulse wasn't good, even if she was pregnant.

"She was on bed rest the last of the pregnancy, and the doctor wasn't sure she should try and have another," the mother said as she got around the table.

"Back up, please, Ma'am. We need to make sure she's got enough room and doesn't freak out when she wakes."

"She's my daughter."

"And I'm trained as a medic. I know more than you as your judgment is being clouded by emotions." Spencer felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at Joe.

"They are five minutes out and are staying on the line with me until they get here." Joe had the phone pressed to his ear.

"Aaron's on his way to the closest hospital to here. He didn't see the need to meet up here. The taxi will drop him. I'll drive their car to the hospital."

Spencer nodded, and he felt Haley start to move. She was waking back up. Her eyes fluttered, and she gasped. Her hand went to her belly before she even tried to sit up. Spencer pressed a hand to her shoulder to keep her down. "Better not do that, Mrs. Hotchner. I don't want you passing out again."

"Sure," Haley croaked.

"Aaron is making sure her files are transferred to here. They live in DC."

Spencer kind of figured that. It seemed that they were visiting Jessica or the parents. Little Creek was too far from even Quantico for Hotchner to live there.

The EMTs arrived with little fanfare, a gurney that they couldn't get through, so Spencer carried Haley over to them. There was a fetal heart monitor on the stretcher, ready to be strapped to her. Haley grabbed Spencer's arm, but he transferred that to Jessica. She needed family and to calm down.

It wasn't but a few minutes before the whole family was going out the doors. Spencer grabbed his wallet and handed over a card to the manager to cover the table.

"Oh, no, Sir. The gentleman who left had already paid. He did before he left," the manager said.

Spencer nodded his head.

"Besides, we do have a small fund that we keep on hand for things like this. No one needs to worry about paying for a meal when someone gets sick enough to be taken out on a gurney."

"How did that start?"

"Owners after they saw a young lady taken out and the family was worried that they forgot. The owners covered it. The family came in the next day, they were so worried that they were going to be taken to court or arrested for it. The waitresses add a little here and there when they have good tippers. Some years we don't touch it, and when it gets above a certain amount, it's donated to a local charity."

"That's good." Spencer slipped his card back into his wallet and took out a hundred. "Add this to it."

"I will, Sir. Thank you for jumping in. Medic, you said?"

"SEAL. Someone has to be trained to make sure none of my guys do something stupid and get hurt worse."

The manager laughed.

Spencer saw his waited dropping off the food at their table. He walked over to settle in. There was a second beer for him there as well. Spencer looked at Joe.

"I didn't order it, but the waiter said it was thanks from someone who wished to remain anonymous."

"Ah. Well, I had better not offend them." Spencer picked up the beer and took a drink. It was one he hadn't tried yet, but he loved it.

The rest of the dinner was small talk about things Joe had been doing to keep himself entertained, which included a few things for the closest VA hospital. Despite the excitement, it was a good dinner on Spencer's first day home.


	12. Chapter 12

## Chapter 12

### May 2011

Spencer pulled down on the edge of his shirt sleeve that had ridden up in the ride in the vehicle from the main area where they were all bunking down to the HQ where most of the ops were going to be run out of. Commander Wright had split up the platoon into two squads with Spencer taking the lead of the second one. There was a lot that they needed to do during their rotation of deployment, and two sets of teams were going to be needed. Spencer was more than happy to take over that.

"Lieutenant Commander," a junior officer said as he opened the door to the room.

Spencer almost looked back behind him. He had still not gotten used to that rank attached to being addressed to him. Spencer kind of hated it, really. He had just done what anyone else would do. That he had the mind to do the work without having to input things into a computer had been sheer dumb luck on their team being assigned to the spin-up.

"Thanks, Lieutenant. So who is in there?"

"Right now? Just the FBI guy you are going to working with."

"FBI, not CIA?" Spencer hadn't received any word other than he would be working with someone from the FBI instead of the CIA.

"Yeah, there was the scuttlebutt that someone wanted his mind tracking the terrorist cell that you were being assigned."

"I fucking hate politics," Spencer said.

"Don't we all. You had better get in there. The man is...well, I didn't see him do anything but glare sternly at everything."

"Thanks. Dismissed." Spencer entered the room but made sure the door shut and didn't make a single bit of noise. The FBI agent was leaning over a set of maps and papers on the large table in the middle of the room. There was a board set up that had a different map on it. The one that Spencer had been working on the night before. There were pins in it. The pins were only understandable to Spencer at the moment. Or so Spencer thought until he watched as the man grabbed a pin from the container and added it to the board. It was a green one, which meant the confirmed location of the cell they were tracking.

Back to the papers, the man went, and then he was looking at them for a while before adding an orange pin, suspected location. The FBI agent had worked with the BAU before and knew what a geographic profile was.

Spencer settled in to watch him more, learning a lot about him. He was wearing thigh holsters like he was born to be a commando. If Spencer weren't where he was, he would probably be hard as fuck. It had been too long since he was with a guy. Even though DADT was going through the motions of being revoked, Spencer wasn't going to touch a single guy until it wasn't going to get him thrown out of the Navy. Still, he could enjoy looking, burning the guy into his brain to think about more in-depth later when he was taking his shower time. Or even when he was home long after they had split up and he had gone back to what he did for a living.

Amelia was long gone. They still talked, but that was it. She was getting ready to get married to the love of her life, and Spencer was happy for her.

The FBI agent turned his head to take a drink of coffee, and Spencer almost didn't hold in the laugh. It was Aaron Hotchner. He looked a lot older than he should be based on his age, but then what he did for a living was hellacious, and it did age people up past what they would typically be. Spencer looked at the clock. It was seven minutes until the actual meeting time he had with the man. He was still wondering why he had an FBI agent and not CIA, but at least this person was BAU and had a reason to be used to track a terrorist cell.

"Agent Hotchner," Spencer said as he pushed off of the wall.

Aaron turned around to look at Spencer. His eyes darted over the rank insignia on Spencer's uniform and then the name. Spencer noticed that he wasn't wearing a wedding ring at all. It looked like he hadn't worn one for a while with no discoloration or shrinking of the skin around the base of that finger.

"Lieutenant Commander Reid," Aaron said. His eyes were distrustful.

"I saw you and Agent Gideon give a lecture at Caltech when I was there for college."

Aaron's eyes took in Spencer's body, trying to figure out how Spencer was old enough. His eyes narrowed in distrust.

"I started college before I was eighteen. Your lecture nearly had me going to the FBI, but I was already in ROTC at the time and more than happy with my career path. So how did you land this gig?" Spencer asked.

"Needed a change of scenery after a few things-" There was a sound from a computer that was over on the side. "Sorry. I'll make this quick."

"Sure." Spencer walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. He drank it black when he was not at home.

"Hey, buddy. It's not time to call me."

"I know, but Daddy, Rory really misses you, she was crying."

Spencer glanced over to see that it was a young boy who looked to be about six, and then in his lap was a toddler. Behind them, Spencer could see the woman who was with them when they had been at the steak house over three years ago.

"Daddy," the little girl said, and Aaron's whole body language just seemed to drop down to nothing. He was relaxed in a way that made him look a hell of a lot younger.

"Hey, Rory. I'm here, and I'm fine. I promise."

"Oh," Jessica said as she stepped up to the screen.

It wasn't until Aaron was looking back at him and that Spencer stepped closer.

"Hello, Ma'am. Fancy seeing you."

"Jessica?" Aaron asked after Spencer stopped talking.

"This is the young man who caught Haley that night she passed out in Little Creek. When she was pregnant with Lorelei."

"We were just getting to that," Spencer said to let Aaron know that he wasn't going to keep that from him.

"Oh, you were the guy outside of there. I thought you were familiar. What a coincidence, huh?"

"Are you going to keep my daddy safe?" Jack asked.

"Yes, I am. I'm going to make sure that he's fully safe from everything," Spencer said with a smile on his face. It helped Jack to settle down, and the little girl was looking at Spencer with curious eyes, but she seemed more settled. "I'm going to go and make sure no new reports have popped up and let you finish talking to them. We can start to work after that. It'll take about fifteen minutes." Spencer looked at his watch and waited for Aaron to nod before he left the room, taking his coffee with him.

The kids were right to be a little off. This was vastly different than the cases that Aaron usually went on.

Fifteen minutes later, Spencer was coming in with a stack of new files in his hand. The laptop was open to a current view of a remote area, and Aaron was relaxed still.

"You were the one that was outside," Aaron said.

Spencer knew that he could have dodged that, but he didn't lie to people like that.

"Yes, I was going to tell you, but the call from your son interrupted you."

"What do you remember about that night?"

"Everything. It's none of my business, though."

There was something on Aaron's face that said that he needed to explain, even if Spencer was a stranger who had seen what had to be a low point in his life.

"Commander Wright told me that you were a dog with a bone with things. Lorelei is not mine. The biological father wanted nothing to do with her though once he found out that she was married to someone else. He signed away his rights. We divorced, and things were fine. Jack understood as well as he could about he and her having different fathers. Then I was targeted by a man we were hunting. He ended up killing Haley. Then I was faced with my son, who had lost his mother, and I couldn't take him away from his sister. I was awarded custody of her and have formally adopted her. Her grandfather wanted her, but the courts felt that being with her brother was going to be the best thing and with losing his wife just before and a few other things. The judge felt I was the best. Jessica watches them both when I am at work, and I make sure that Lorelei knows that I love her."

"I was adopted by the man I call my dad. He loved me even though he had no reason to and fought with my mother to get her what she needed. She's unable to care for herself much less me when I was a kid. So I get it."

"Your dad still around?"

"He's a former SEAL, retired before he took me in due to injury. I live with him. He sees no reason since I go long stretches where I am out of the country that I need to try and take care of a place. Gives him a reason to be around as well. So don't worry about me looking at you weird. You really didn't have to tell me all of that. Here are the reports that came in." Spencer laid the files down in front of Aaron and move around to look at the points that had been put into the map.

"You'll need to read them, Lieutenant Commander."

"Reid is fine, or Doc. Lots of the guys call me Doc."

"Hotch."

Spencer nodded his head and turned away from the map. "I've already read over the files."

"You said you were going to get new ones."

"Yes, and I did. Five minutes to collect them and ten to read over them while I walked back. I can read twenty thousand words per minute, Hotch. There is a reason I'm given all of these things."

"I'd like to meet with who made up this map. The red pins are a little confusing."

"Ah, well, that's because those are not confirmed or suspected locations but places that I want to look at. I asked for information on geographic profiling. I was given the same course that is taught at the Academy for BAU hopefuls on the subject after I got onto a SEAL team years ago."

Aaron's eyes raised up, and Spencer was pretty sure he wasn't done surprising the man. "You were the one that made this?"

"Yes. I've used things like it to hunt down nearly every single threat we have done after. This group we are after is a little more tricky, and what I know of behavior profiling isn't going to cut it. I've been working on this for a month before we shipped out. I wasn't made aware that I would be working with you on this. I figured it would be the CIA."

"I'm working with CIA information, but I guess the powers that be want the profiling to happen on the ground instead of from far away."

"Well, Agent Hotchner, I look forward to learning what I can from you. I hope that with what I learn, no one else needs to come out and be taken away from their families."

"I don't mind being here. It's better than at home."

"And away from your kids?"

"That's the only hard part, but Jack...Jack understands. He didn't want me leaving the BAU after his mother died. He wants me to keep on being a superhero to him."

"I was told that the asset would be bunking with me. Feel free with what little free time we have you are more than welcome to call Jack and Rory."

"Thanks. I don't want to bother you."

"Once I start to read, Hotch, nothing can bother me. I listen for my cell phone and a few voices. I can tune you out, no problem. There is no reason for you to not have as much time with them as you can. It will be fine, and if it starts to bother me, I can read anywhere. It's pretty much what I do if I am not hanging with the team. Well, that and shoot."

"Shoot?"

"I'm the second-best sniper on the team. That's only through a lot of practice to keep it up. Rivera wants to try and get to be second, but he's...well, he's not got the patience and the ability to factor in winds. I can do that math in my head quicker than a lot of machines can and especially adding in being told that by my spotter."

"I was in SWAT at the FBI waiting on my turn in the BAU. I was the best sniper on the team."

"When we get out in the thick of it, we will have to set up a range and see who is the better shot. I think that I would like that."

"Who is best on your team?"

"Young. That's why he's not on this squad. Commander Wright usually pairs Young and me as a pair. He wanted a good sniper on each, and there is barely a difference between Young and I, but there is a large one before Rivera and me. So are you ready to talk shop?"

"Sure." Aaron waved at the papers in front of them, and they both dug into the paperwork before they started to talk about it all.

* * *

It was a down day, and Spencer wasn't sure that he wanted to have a down day. They had been going hard for two and a half weeks. It was nearly the end of May, and all the team had done was chase ghosts in the sands. They were in a temporary base that was a joint area. While Spencer was more than happy to have people around, the team was pretty much just sticking around each other.

"Hey, Doc," Torres said as he came up to him.

Spencer looked up from the hammock that he was in. It was braced between two pillars in the ramshackle building they were in. The beams were more than enough to support it, and given that this room was just big enough for a desk and a bed. Yet, it was supposed to house him and Aaron. Spencer had taken to the hammock with ease.

Aaron had tried to fight him on it that they could get rid of the desk, but Spencer vetoed that. He slept just fine in the hammock.

"What's up?" Spencer asked.

"You are making us all worry."

"Why?"

"You are humming, and you aren't stopping on the tapping of your fingers. I know that there is a wall between where Kellett and I are, but there is not a good wall between them. You don't normally hum, and you don't tap your fingers on the book. You've already run seventeen miles, according to Kellett."

"He counted again, didn't he?"

"Yes. I mean, you run on the same path, and you were steady as you went around the whole camp. So what do you need to get rid of whatever is wrong?"

"I think that I need to do and shoot. See if you can find Hotch."

"He's pacing outside while reading papers. FBI ones. Not anything to do with our mission."

"Probably a case from back home that his team needs his help on. I think I'll snag him, and we can go and measure who has got the best shot."

"I'll keep the guys away, so there are no more bets. Just...don't come back like this. Last time we all got in trouble with the base Commander."

Spencer laughed and snapped the book he was reading shut before he slipped down to the ground. He preferred the hammock to a lot of the beds that he had slept in, and it was part of why it was in his kit. He really would rather just live in it than have a bad back. He also figured that part of that was the way that it held him. There was probably a bit of psychology behind that, but Spencer really doesn't care at all. It made him happy and didn't hurt him or anyone else.

Spencer found the gunner's mate, Fredo, who was around with them after getting a Jeep out of the motor pool. He was the one that had Spencer's baby. Fredo's name came from the fact that his favorite meal involved anything covered in Alfredo sauce. Spencer had been glad when he had come with them instead of the other half of the team. It was another month or so, and they would be paired again, which Spencer figured would be about the time that they were getting to the end of the places that were empty.

"I wondered when I would see you. What you need to play with today?"

"Give me an array and enough ammo for two."

"Who are you training today?"

"No one. Going to see how the Profiler shoots a gun."

"Think he's got anything on you?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to have fun finding out. Seems on his SWAT team, he was the best sniper, so I'm hoping that he at least gives me a run for my money." Spencer takes the two cases and slings them into the back of the Jeep that he had commandeered for the day. It was a simple thing to get behind the wheel of it before he went to find where Aaron was.

Aaron was indeed pacing near a tent but not near the building that he had been at when Torres has last seen him. It was to pick him out between the thigh holsters and the thick dark beard and mustache that he was sporting.

"Want to go shoot off some energy by shooting paper targets?" Spencer asked as he stopped the Jeep.

Aaron looked up at him from the paper that he was reading.

"Where?"

"There's a valley here in this set of areas. We have guards on duty on the top of the hills to protect the range from someone sneaking up. A few bored flight boys worked on getting it set up before we joined them here at this place."

"You know, that does sound good." Aaron grabbed the upper area of the bar across the top and slipped into the seat of the Jeep. He stuffed the papers into the dashboard.

Spencer gave him a grin and then put the Jeep in gear to get them the hell out of there. The range was just far enough away from camp that it seemed like it was another world, and the guards were in towers on the edges of the hills that it would be hard to do anything but see them from a distance. It was kind of great to be out there with the dust blowing around.

"Your accent is strange. I can pick out some words that are incongruous with other words that you use."

"Dad's words infiltrated everything. Mom was raised in the north, and I lived in Vegas before going to college at Pasadena. Then it's been all over the country for training and then my team. I'm not shocked that I've picked up words that don't match the rest of my vernacular."

"When exactly did you start college?"

"Start? Twelve, but I turned thirteen a month later."

"You don't seem to be too...shy about any of that."

"I learned how to embrace things with Dad. He taught me not to be afraid of being strange. I stuck out like a sore thumb at high school, but there was more than just age with that. I had a lot going for me that made me hide, and that just made things a hell of a lot worse with the kids we were around me."

"One of the high schools in Vegas had a rough few years. Gideon was called in to consult with a few things that a local politician wanted a more careful eye on. A high school that had a bullying issue. I've been to Vegas once for a case. It was a strange one and ended very badly."

"But did you like the city or hate it because of that?" Spencer asked. He finally pushed himself out of the Jeep and grabbed the case in the back before he looked at Aaron, who was getting out as well. He handed over the sniper rifle case. There were ear covers in each case. He walked over to the main table that was set up for the downrange stuff. There was a range of targets set up, and Spencer could put up paper ones, but tin cans were kind of fun. The mess left a lot of them for use since it meant they didn't have to deal with them. It was easier to clean the cans and toss them in a plastic drum for people who maintained the range to pick through for what they wanted.

"So, what are we going to go?" Aaron asked.

"Figured we would start small and work up from there. Sorry, we don't have anything that would work as the gun you carry on your ankle back home."

Aaron raised an eyebrow at him.

"That night at the steak house in Little Creek, I could tell you were wearing a gun on your ankle." Spencer set out the gun that he wanted to use first and checked that it was empty before he walked down the range to set it up how he wanted for the close-range shots. He went ahead and set up the mid-distance and long-range as well.

Aaron was looking over the two cases and nodding as he looked at each gun. There was ammo packed in the pockets, enough for them each a clip of most guns and then a good many shots on the sniper rifle. Spencer liked Fredo, he wasn't skimpy with the ammo at all.

"So when did you start to shoot guns?" Aaron asked.

"Dad took me to learn just before I got the results of my ACT and ASVAB. So twelve. Kind of freshly turned, but yeah. It was calming once I got used to the kick of the gun and the sounds even over the covers." Spencer picked up the first set of ear covers and slipped them on. They were good and allowed for the regular talk but blocked out the sounds of the shots enough.

Aaron put his on next. He smiled and nodded his head. Spencer grabbed the clip for the gun and slipped it in before he took aim. There were enough cans at close range for an entire clip. This was just the warm-up. Aaron made the call that the range was hot as Spencer took the safety off the gun and aimed again. It was interesting to see the way that it looked. Spencer had got used to ranges like this as it was hard to have a fully equipped range out in the ass-end of the world.

"What about you?" Spencer asked after took the safety off and popped the clip. He checked to make sure nothing was strange before he handed the gun to Aaron.

"I learned how to fire a shotgun when I was growing up. There were hunts that were father-son things that my father wanted to go to for the look of it. It wasn't until I was in the FBI Academy that I learned just how good of a shot I was. I worked extra time in the range and learned a variety of weapons. It was something that was calming to me."

Aaron paused in his speech to pop his clip into the gun.

Spencer stepped back to watch his form as he fired. He was proficient as hell at it. Spencer could see the SWAT in him. Front sight, controlled trigger press, and follow through. He was a wet dream like that, and Spencer was glad that he was dressed in a way that would allow his erection to stay hidden but also in pants that would stop it even if he wasn't tucked the way that he was.

Aaron was a work of art in the way that he focused on everything. He took his shots with precision but was quick between each shot. Even Spencer could see the line of shots that he was making, and they were all perfect. He smiled as he watched each of the cans being knocked off time and time again. Each was like a small bit of spark to the flame that was his arousal. It was interesting to see it. It was interesting to see someone who wasn't trained for the military on the way that he dealt with things. Civilians were a very different breed, but they were a breed that Spencer wouldn't mind playing against most. He would have to see about making a trip to the base in Quantico and plying at the Academy one day when he was home long enough to spend a day or two in the DC area. Spencer was kind of glad that the Academy was on the base there.

They worked through every single gun that Fredo had picked out for them, and it was very, very interesting to see Aaron's form as he worked through each one. Arousal was something that Spencer had long learned to live with in a way that he could ignore easily. He snorted as Aaron worked on getting settled in with the sniper rifle on the area that was cleaned and clear for settling in on the ground on a tarp. Spencer had to lay down the tarp when they had got there, but it was easy to do that.

The whole thing was like a giant cock tease. When he was in the Officers' shower later that night, he was going to make sure to jerk off with a bit of force to make sure that the look of Aaron Hotchner holding a gun wasn't going to get him horny again. There was a disconnect between lusting after someone who was on Spencer's team or even just in the military and someone like Aaron, who was a civilian.

The FBI was better at being out while working in there. It was part of the reason why Spencer still had it as a back up if he left the military one day.

Spencer took his time with each of his shots as well, putting his right next to Aaron's, sometimes through the exact same hole that Aaron had put his. They took time as they one-upped each other until the sun was dipping down below the horizon. It was a good day, and Spencer felt settled in a way that he hadn't in a long while.

"The mess is serving warm food for a little while longer," Spencer said as he stowed the sniper rifle into its case along with the ear covers. He looked at Aaron.

"Drop me, and I'll snag you something to eat."

"Nah, I'll be good to join you. They do well at making sure that I have food there as sometimes I get stuck in briefs and various things that stop me from being able to get food at a normal time. They will have something for me out there. You go and snag us a table. I'll see if that info has come in from the CIA before I head back to you."

"Working dinner?"

"Is there anything else?" Spencer asked.

Aaron laughed, and Spencer kind of wanted to see that more. Aaron didn't seem like the kind of guy that smiled all that often outside of his kids. Even that was something that was a cause of stress if the discussions he listened to between Jessica and him were any indication.

Nights were fun, and Spencer enjoyed listening to Aaron talk to the kids when he got the chance. Rory was a little ball of words that were half right, but Aaron didn't correct her all that often. She was getting better at a lot of them, even to Spencer's ears.

Later that evening, after dinner was eaten, it was time for Aaron to talk to the kids over the secure network. It was very, very interesting. Rory was babbling about something, and Jack was in the background.

"Daddy, can I talk to Mister Spencer?" Jack asked when it was just about time for them to say goodbye.

"Um..."

Spencer looked up at the computer and saw that Jack was indeed looking at him. Mister Spencer was what Aaron told the kids to call him. Rory couldn't quite say it, so it was Mister Pen from her.

"Sure, buddy, but make it quick. We gotta go to bed for work in the morning."

"It won't take long at all."

Aaron moved so that there was room for Spencer in front of the camera on the laptop.

"Um," Spencer said as he slipped out of his hammock and dropped to the ground before crouching at eye level with the camera. "What can I do for you, Sir?"

Jack laughed a little at the Sir part, but he sobered up pretty quickly.

"Do you take care of my dad?" Jack asked all the somberness that a kid his age could muster up."

"Of course. He's part of my team while he's out here, and I make sure that everyone on my team is taken care of."

"Daddy takes care of his team here too. I'm glad he has someone who makes sure that he's okay."

"Come on, Jack. Say goodnight to your dad. I'm sure he wants to go to bed."

"No one wants to go to bed," Jack said.

"I don't know. I do." Spencer laughed at the look that Jack gave him. His mouth was open, and he looked like the world was lying to him.

"Why?"

"Because of breakfast. I mean, I love breakfast. Fluffy pancakes with chocolate chips and whipped cream, crispy bacon that smells up the whole house, and fried potatoes that have just a bit of darkness to them, and you can taste it. Coffee that's full of cream and just a little sweet. You can't have that without going to bed. I mean, if you go to bed at two, you are going to wake up so late it's lunch, and you can't have that for lunch."

"Yeah, you can," Jack said, but he looked like he was fighting it just to fight.

"But it never tastes as good unless it's the first meal of the day."

"Aunt Jess, I want that for breakfast tomorrow!" Jack cried out, and he turned around, then took off running. Rory followed behind him until they were both lost to the edge of the fixed camera.

"Sorry," Spencer said.

"No, it's fine." Jessica settled down into the chair.

"Goodnight, Daddy!" Jack and Rory yelled at the same time. They came running back and blew kisses to the screen and then were gone again.

"Goodnight," Aaron said. He laughed and shook his head.

"Breakfast is a big thing because Jack doesn't want oatmeal and orange juice like Aaron does since Aaron's not here, and I love making food like that, but getting the kids to eat it can be hard. I figure I'll get sick of it. Thank you, Spencer, for watching out for him."

"That's what the team does, Ma'am. We take care of each other. He might be here temporarily, and he might not be a SEAL, but he's part of the team."

Spencer made his way back to his hammock and slipped inside of it before he let his eyes wander up to where the picture of him and his dad was. He could understand Jack being worried about his father. He was just old enough to understand enough about the world to know that war was bad, and his dad was in it. Spencer was kind of glad that he never had to live through that with Joe. He also felt like he should call Joe to talk to him. Reassure Joe that he was alive.

"You wrote a letter," Aaron said.

"That's not a question." Spencer turned his head to look at Aaron, who was still sitting at the desk, but the computer was shut down, and he was turned to face Spencer.

"No. I lost my train of thought a little bit. You work on a letter every day, then you mail it out once a week. Yet, you never get letters back."

"Dad and I email each other. It's faster and better."

"So, who do you write?"

Spencer debated for about ten seconds if he was going to answer that. There was a sense of familiarity that wasn't precisely true between them. They spent time together working on things, but they were not that close. Only a few people on the team knew that he wrote his mom a little bit every single day. Agnew made sure that if Spencer was in the infirmary for anything like that food poisoning, that he had his journal so he could write it and Wright knew. Rivera knew because Agnew did. Still it is personal.

"You don't have to tell me. I'm sorry that I asked."

"No, it's fine. It's fine. I just don't share that with many people at all, and the rest of the team doesn't really notice that I am writing a letter at all. It's to my mother at the facility that she is in. I used to write to her every single day, but I don't anymore. I just write to her a little bit and send it all in a weekly letter. I've been doing that for a long time, actually. When I was in high school and some in college, I did the whole a letter a day."

"Do you get to see her as much as you want to?"

"Want to? No. I've actually not seen her since she found out I was joining the military. She refuses to see me. I write to her, and I talk to her doctor. She reads them and keeps them, but she doesn't want to see me. I've adjusted, and I'm not going to stop writing her letters until she asks. I try and write as little about work as possible."

"I know that I have no bearing on this, but I'm sorry. I assume that she has an issue with the government?"

"Yes. Paranoia. One of the last times that she agreed to talk to me, she told me that she would be happier if I had joined the FBI instead of the Navy. She hates the man who adopted me because he turned me into this."

"If only we could pick family, huh?" Aaron asked.

Spencer could see the pain on his face, and Spencer wanted to ask, but he didn't. Someone in Aaron's family had hurt him a great deal.

"Yeah, at least we can make families out of the people we want, though. My team is my family. They would do anything for me, and I would do anything for them. I don't need anyone but them and Dad."

"I have Jack, Jessica, Rory, and my team, so I know what you mean."

Spencer listened as Aaron got ready for bed before shutting off the light in the room they were in. It didn't take Spencer long at all to fall asleep.

### June 2011

Spencer was still in his gear, a gunshot to his arm that was wrapped up to make sure that he stopped bleeding all over everything. He knew precisely where Aaron was, and he was ready to give the man a piece of his mind. It was the first time that Spencer had ever been overridden while in the field, and he was fucking pissed.

Aaron had gone to Wright, over the comms, as Wright with the other half of the team on their last mission before coming back to join Spencer. Spencer was looking forward to having someone between him and the asshole who had ordered Spencer to do what they had done. Spencer had refused, and it had stalled everything long enough that they had been found where they were in the field. The only thing that was good that had come out of it all was two things. One that Spencer had been proven right that if they had done what Spencer refused to do, the whole team would have died. And two, that the worst injury on the team wasn't going to get Torres sent home, but he would be off the team for a little while. Spencer was going to set him up to work with Aaron until he was able to work with the team again. Diaz was going to get a crash course at being number one in giving orders and such in the field. It would be good for him. Torres was near where he would probably get moved to another team when a Chief spot opened up, and that would mean that Diaz would slot into his spot, so it was good that Torres was still around.

Spencer checked the room that he saw Aaron sitting in and made sure no one was around before he shut the door and threw the lock.

"You!" Spencer said with every single bit of malice and venom that he could conjure given how fucking tired, sore, and in pain he was.

"Reid," Aaron said as he turned around and held up his hand.

"You just couldn't do it, could you?" Spencer demanded. He tossed his helmet down on the ground and winced when it hurt his arm to do that. He looked to see that his arm was bleeding again, seeping under the ripped shirt that was acting as a bandage. He was not looking forward to the trip to the infirmary. He was going to be loaded up on antibiotics and probably have his arm in a sling. His team was going to be on stand down as half of them were going to be out for at least a week.

"Let m-"

"No. You are going to fucking listen to me because you are not the lord of everything out here. The Intel that you received was bad, and I told you that before we even left. You were told that you needed to double-check as that was clashing against what I had. I told you that what you said was supposed to be there wasn't there, and you went above my fucking head. I'm just fucking glad that Wright has trained me to never ever fucking do something that feels wrong, no matter who tells me. I knew that something was wrong, and I told you. I told you that I was going to hold where we were until the intel could be confirmed. You told that fucking jackass that there was no one there. That it wasn't possible given what we knew and the profile. Well, guess what you fucking were wrong about?"

Aaron looked a little gutted at the moment, but Spencer really didn't give a fuck. There was something in Aaron's eyes that wasn't fear or anger or any other emotion that Spencer could figure out, but then he didn't care about that either.

"You might hunt vicious killers in America and have a good grasp on terrorists. But you don't have the greatest grasp on how this area works at the moment, nor do you seem to trust in the instincts that my team and I have. Three of us spoke up at the same time about it being off. Three. That was not me bullying them into something. So Mister Greatest Criminal Profiler in the World, what the fuck do you have to say about this?"

"I'm under a lot of pressure to get this done as soon as possible before they can retaliate against the death of Bin Laden."

"And you are not going to get it done with my team dead. I will not allow your political games to get my men killed."

The door opened behind Spencer, and he didn't really care. Aaron's eyes darted over, and there was fear there. Spencer turned around to see who it was and run them off.

"Come on, Doc, Agnew ain't settling down for the doctors until you are in his sight, and it's upsetting Torres," Flores said. His arm was in the makeshift sling that Torres had made for him in the field using his shirt. It had been used as well for Spencer's arm. Flores had dislocated it when he had nearly fallen down into a shaft after their escape from the area had caused them to take tunnels that had not been used for a long time. Spencer had helped pull him out along with Torres. That had caused the valuable head start time they had to diminish. It was that firefight after that which had cause Spencer to get shot and Torres to be injured.

Spencer had seen the life of his team flash before his eyes, and he had been pissed since then. He'd left that emotion hiding, though, until he got his team out alive. The cavalry had arrived just in time to save their asses before they were overrun.

"Agnew's barely injured. Tell him if he doesn't submit, he's running laps until I feel better about his attitude. You need to be in there as well, Flores, so double-time it."

"Sir, you are starting to drip on the floor. I will pick you up and throw you over my shoulder, Sir. I'm pretty sure that Commander Wright will give me a medal for it."

Spencer turned to look at Flores, and he saw that the man was honest in his words. He would try, and that would hut him worse, and that would make Spencer feel like shit.

"We are not done," Spencer said to Aaron before he turned, seeing the blood that Flores was talking about on the floor.

"Of course not," Aaron said, and that look was back in his eyes. The one that Spencer couldn't figure out.

Flores was silent as he escorted Spencer to the infirmary. Thankfully the through and through hadn't done that much to Spencer except for put two new holes into Spencer's body. He endured the blood that was taken and the samples from the area around the wound to make sure that there wasn't anything nasty on the bullet itself. Then the scans to make sure that his muscles and the bone were fine even though Spencer knew they were. The local was all that was needed when Spencer was stitched up. It was going to scar, but then that would just add to the ones that Spencer already had on him.

The entire team was in the area, even the ones who just needed a quick check. They didn't leave until Torres was in his bed, where he would be staying for the next few hours to make sure that he was fine before releasing him to relax. He was down for two weeks and was on light duty, meaning paperwork and the like.

"Lieutenant Commander?" a timid voice asked from the door to the infirmary.

Spencer turned around to look at the poor Seaman, who had been tasked with finding him.

"Yes?"

"Commander Wright is three days out from joining us. He respectfully asks, and I quote, that the stupid civilian be left in a large enough piece that Commander Wright can take his pound of flesh as well."

"Thank you. Dismissed."

"I heard the rumor you were yelling loud enough that people could hear you all over the building," Agnew said with a smile from where was seated beside Torres with a deck of cards in his hand. Rivera settled on the foot of Torres' bed, and there was a table stretched over his lap. It looked like they were going to babysit him and keep him entertained until he was released.

"Rumor my ass, Agnew. Flores told you that he could hear it, and that's how he found me."

"Nah, I knew where you were, Doc. You were muttering about pompous FBI agents the entire ride home in the Humvee. It was not hard to put one and one together to get two. Though I guess that things are going to be calm for a few days. I can't wait until Wright gets back. It will prove to be interesting."

"Yes, well, there is already an inquiry started. Get your paperwork filed as quickly as you can."

"Flores is working on his now. He's telling Kellett what to type up for his, and then Kellett will do his own. Once I'm calm enough, I'm sure that one of these two will get me a laptop so I can do mine. You can type fast enough one-handed, so I don't think you'll have much of an issue." Torres raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

"No, I'll be fine. I'll be in Wright's office to work on it. If I go back to my room, I might need to be charged with murder."

"You can always bunk with us, Sir. I'm sure we can string you up a hammock somewhere." Agnew had a shit-eating grin on his face but then gave Spencer a salute. The other two followed, and Spencer left. He and Wright shared an office at the moment on the base they were on. There wasn't enough room for them to have one each, but since they hadn't been there together since Spencer had been there, it wasn't an issue. It really wasn't an issue at all. It wouldn't be an issue as Spencer worked mainly from the laptop while Wright liked the desktop that was in the room.

Spencer opened the office door and grinned as the coffee pot was already on, and there was coffee brewed. There was also a small meal of sandwiches and fries, as well as a piece of pie sitting at the desk on top of Spencer's laptop. The pills he had sent with Flores to his bunk were also set out. That told him who had done that. The team took care of each other, and Wright had instilled that in them all as he made them better at who they were. Spencer grabbed a cup and laid it down before adding in a little cream and a dash of sugar before he poured the liquid into the cup. He sipped at it. It wasn't burning hot, which was good. He downed the entire cup before he poured out more without cream and sugar. He settled in at the desk and looked at the pills he had been given. His allergy to Beta-lactams was well known, so he didn't have to worry about that.

Touching the dog tags under his shirt, Spencer sighed. He was still mostly in his recon gear, but the outer bits had been handed over to someone to put up for the team. He dolled out two of the pills and took them with a healthy swallow of his coffee. The third needed to wait until he was done with his report. Typically, Spencer was okay with giving short and concise reports, but this wasn’t going to go down on him. It was going to take as many words as it took for him to get it right.

Spencer knew that Aaron was a good man. He was one of the best men that Spencer had come to know, but he also seemed to have issues trusting people, which given what had happened with his wife, Spencer could understand. However, his trust in Spencer's want to protect his team had sorely lacked. Spencer was never one who was going to just jump when someone told him to, not when the orders could get his team killed for no reason.

Every single person on Seal Team 8, no matter what platoon they were on, would give their life if it was needed to save the life of someone or to kill someone who threatened them. There was a big difference between that and the shit show the last mission had become. He sighed and grabbed the coffee after finishing his food. The sandwich had tasted like cardboard, and the fries were still warm enough to be really good, but Spencer hadn't tasted them at all. The cake was left for after the after-action report was done.

Spencer booted up the laptop, and as soon as it was fully up, an icon showed that Joe was on his desktop computer. Spencer connected it up and waited for Joe to notice the icon.

"Hey, Son," Joe said as soon as his face popped up.

Spencer dropped the image of him to a small box that would live at the top of the screen, and then he brought up the after-action report.

"You are covered in blood."

"I'd like to say that it's not mine, but that would be lying. I am fine. It was a through and through in my left arm. No severe damage."

"Thanks for letting me know. Anyone else hurt?"

"Torres is off for a few weeks but not enough to be sent home. He'll help keep an eye on the FBI asset that we have helping us. Flores dislocated his shoulder, but we got it popped back into place, and it's fine. All in all, it wasn't that bad."

"And yet you look like you want to just rip someone to shreds." Joe looked proud at that, and it made Spencer laugh a little.

"I was needed on the mission. My language skills, as well as a few of the aspects of my degree in engineering, made me mission essential. The team was happy to have me out instead of in their ear. Still, it was a clusterfuck as the person who was helping to run it didn't trust my word, and they convinced someone else that I was wrong. In the process of fighting that order that I knew was wrong and going to get us killed for nothing, the trap that had been laid for us was sprung, and we nearly didn't make it out. If we had been even ten feet forward, we would have all died. I'm still pissed, and with my arm, my two biggest methods of anger relief are out of the picture. I'll have to settle for running." Spencer clicked over to the part that he needed and started to type one-handed.

"Shooting, you could do it one-handed. You are skilled enough."

"Handgun ain't gonna do it, Dad."

"Well, shit," Joe said. He frowned.

"What's your second method?"

Spencer just gave Joe a look, and Joe laughed.

"You know I am still not sure that I ever should have encouraged you to have sex. I mean, I thought it would help you get over whatever hang-ups you have over having a relationship with someone. Instead, I just turned a man onto the world that would rather fuck every female than to settle down in a relationship with her."

"Hey, I'm upfront about my not wanting more than a single night with someone. I have never lied to anyone to get them into my bed. I always bring my own damned condoms, and I make sure that she has the time of her life before I leave. I'm sure there are ladies out there who are happy that you did turn me onto the world for sex."

Joe laughed.

Spencer felt some of the anger in his bleed away. He would have to see about doing some laps and then getting some ammo for his gun to go and shoot on the range. The sniper rifle was out of the picture, and so was just about any gun that wasn't his sidearm. It wouldn't be hard to make sure that people stayed away from him at the range. Spencer worked on his report, listening to the sounds of his father moving around the house and then started to cook. Spencer looked a the time and saw that it was nearly lunchtime there. So he was probably cooking up BLTs or something like that.

No words were said as Spencer worked on his report, and Joe cooked. It was a simple little thing that Spencer had never thought in his life would calm him down like it was doing.

An email chime made Joe jump, and Spencer ignored it until he saw the banner popping up on his laptop. He saw the email address it was from. The temporary one that Aaron had been given that was on their network, so he didn't have to get into his FBI one, even if it was secure.

Spencer clicked on the email. There was no heading on it, but in the body was a couple of sentences.

_I'm sorry._

_When you are ready, I would love to discuss what felt wrong and how you came about your correct reasoning on the mission._

_Aaron Hotchner_

Spencer frowned that he hadn't signed it with all of his accolades.

"What's got a bee in your bonnet?"

"Agent Hotchner. He emailed me to tell me that he was sorry. Which I'm glad of, even if I think that it's a cop-out. It's better than me punching him. I might have even done it if Flores hadn't been sent to track me down. He wants to discuss the mission and learn from me it seems."

"How is the FBI asset working instead of the CIA?"

"Oh, it's just fine. We are learning a great deal about the psychology of the people we are hunting. More than what I was learning doing remote profiling courses."

"Yes, I heard from a few that the FBI was bending over backward to make you happy."

"I think that the Director of the FBI wants to kidnap me."

"I wouldn't be shocked. I'm sure that someone at the Navy is keeping him up on what you are doing with the classes you are taking remotely that the Academy offers."

"They are fun, and they stop me from killing people who piss me off."

Joe laughed. The conversation died down again. It was just them, existing in the same space digitally in the same way that they used to do in the same space physically. It was really nice to just be there like that. It was helping to calm Spencer down as he tried not to want to murder the fuck out of Aaron.


	13. Chapter 13

## Chapter 13

### August 2011

"You have got to be kidding," Aaron said as he leaned back on his bunk, a beer in his hand.

Spencer was sitting on the floor with his back to the desk and was rolling his bottle of beer between his hands. They technically shouldn't bed drinking, but a single beer each wasn't going to harm them, and it wasn't like the mission they were going on was going to start the next day. It was set for the day after, and the beer would be long gone from their system. Spencer hadn't asked where the beer had come from. Still, when he had got back to their room after spending the entire day going over all of the intel from the stolen laptop that Flores had stumbled on during their last mission, it had seemed like a good night to relax.

"No. I'm really not. Wright was pissed as hell, but he couldn't help but laugh when the entire team tried to cover up for Kellett. The kid was stupid, and BUD/S hadn't removed his filter from his mouth like it should have. He was on good drugs at the time but not that good of ones. Kellett woke up the next morning and immediately went to Wright and told him the entire truth. Kellett had the worst job for weeks."

"I heard the talk of the camp that your team hasn't lost anyone to injury, death, or retirement."

"No, we haven't. We will be losing Torres soon. He's going to go up in rank to where he needs to be on a different team. We will all survive, though. We will make it and be happy about it, but I really don't want another person that I have to train to not be an asshat."

"Asshat? Are you sure you can handle your beer?"

"Asshat is a perfectly good term for people who have their head so far up their ass that it's their hat. Agnew taught it to me, and I did do research."

"I can see that." Aaron sipped at his beer before making a face and draining it.

Spencer took a drink of his to see that Aaron was right; it was getting to be too warm. Spencer drained his as well and caught Aaron's bottle when he tossed it over. Spencer hid the bottles down in the trash. He looked at Aaron and laughed as the guy was watching him hide the trash.

"I'm supposed to be the role model. Though I guess I failed at that when I helped make the still that's here on base and the best way to hide it."

"I heard someone talking the other day."

"Yeah?"

"You are smart as hell, why the Navy? Why SEALs?"

"Because we don't just need smart guys on home soil working on threats. When I made a choice to go Navy, SEALs, if I could, I made sure to change my degrees a little. Caltech was more than happy to adjust a few things to make sure I could get what I wanted. I was a feather in their cap as I was courted by a lot of schools before I settled on there."

"Did your dad want you to go there?"

"He had no cares where I went as long it was where I wanted to go. He just wanted me happy. Which was something that I wasn't used to at the time. I tried for a few years to be what my father wanted, even trying little league, but I sucked at it. I could understand the science behind it all but being watched while I played, being the one guy that they all needed to help them win a game if I was the last at-bat with two outs. I got better at the pressure, as you can tell by the fact that I am where I am. This is a team effort, though. Yeah, for a few minutes, it's on me, but then it's on whoever is in the lead or whoever has the eyes. The team doesn't win or lose based on one person fucking up. We can change anything that we want to by pushing through."

"You are a good Officer to the team. I can see that they respect you, and you haven't won that respect through fear, but by being a guy they can look up to."

"I respected my father because he was a good man. After everything with the man who was my biological father, I learned how to get respect by acting like him. He was hard on me but never asked for more than I could do. He was never mean."

"He was a good officer, then wasn't he?" Aaron asked.

"He wasn't an officer. Enlisted the whole way for him. He learned I would assume by just learning from all of the officers that he served under."

"I learned much the same way. My father was not someone that anyone should ever try to emulate. He was a bastard who beat his wife and his oldest son but worshiped the ground his youngest walked on. We were all damaged in very different ways."

"And you were the oldest?" Spencer asked.

Aaron didn't answer, but the look in his eyes said everything that Spencer needed to know about it. Aaron's eyes focused on the wall, and he looked like he was a little lost. Spencer wondered if Aaron had told many about his childhood at all.

"It took me a long time to admit that my mother was abusing me. She didn't mean to, and to me, it was just the way that life was, but after Joe came around and after I learned what life was like to not live with mom, it was easy to accept. It was hard to admit. Joe bullied William into giving up custody of me, threatened him, but William hadn't been around and didn't care that I was hurt at school more than once. I was happy to be away from that man. If I had it to do over again, I'd take Dad's name when he got full custody of me. The Reid family isn't exactly a family that I care about at all."

"Not even the one's that aren't William?" Aaron asked.

"They didn't care about me. They left me in the hands of Mom after he left us. Everyone knew exactly what kind of woman she was. They all knew her issues and knew that there was no way that she was taking care of me. I worried about school work, making sure that she didn't have an episode that would get me taken from her, and about everything else while she read books and taught class when she could. All of my neighbors knew that we were having issues, but no one stepped up. I was kind of really glad to leave Vegas when we did. I was able to get away from everything. Away from the school that hated me for ruining football for years, from the neighbors that didn't care about the screaming that my mother did."

"My mother never tried to get me away from my father. She stood there by his grave when he died and talked about how wonderful of a man he was. How he was a loving father and the best husband that she could ever have. Even after he was gone, she never got out of the bottle. She never lived long enough to see me married. Sean was one month out of school and over eighteen when it happened, so at least I didn't have to try to be the adult there. That probably would have made it worse. We were doing well before he went to New York. I don't hear much from him, but at least he's not asking for bail money."

"I don't have siblings. I have a guy that I think I might call a brother. Basketball player in the NBA. He went to Boston and just never left there."

"I hate Boston."

"The team?" Spencer asked.

"No, the city."

"How do you hate a city?"

Aaron laughed at the question, but it wasn't a good laugh.

"We went for a bombing case, and that ended up being the end of Jason Gideon's career. He never recovered from that and left the FBI a month later. I was jumped to Unit Chief with that. That wasn't the first case that I did in Boston. The first was a little while before that and ended with us never catching the UnSub."

"Boston Reaper."

"Yes." Aaron looked at Spencer, a little shocked.

"I have a lot of hobbies, it's how I stay sane out here. Serial killers, I totally blame on that lecture. So the team went back to Boston when the Reaper started up again."

"Yes. We put it together a little too late on who the Reaper was, and he was able to kill too many for my sanity. We caught him, though."

"And then he escaped."

"You follow current serial killers?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah. I read a lot, it's easy. Especially when a high profiler killer escapes from prison. I know he was caught, but a lot of that was hushed up, and even my security clearance couldn't get in on that."

"He's the one who killed Haley. I killed him for it, but yeah."

"I mean, that's a good reason to hate Boston, but that's not quite the vehemence that I would expect for those."

"Before I was seconded to this task force, we were in Boston. I lost an agent. She was killed by a man who she had put away during her tenure with another agency. We tried to get there in time, but we were too far behind her, and we didn't even notice that she was gone for a while. We all entered the building to find her dead body. The man was killed in the crossfire, so we at least got justice for her."

"So yeah, fuck Boston. That's...yeah that enough reason to hate a city. I'm sorry you lost her."

"So am I. She didn't trust us, or he threatened us. I will never know why she went off on her own because we never got to talk to her. I've tried to keep the team together, but in the wake of it all, we just kind of broke. Then I was pulled for this, and I didn't fight it even though I should have. I needed the time away."

"So who is running the team while you are gone?"

"Agent Morgan and David Rossi."

"Ah, I do remember seeing that he came out of retirement a few years ago. Is Agent Morgan doing a good job?"

"I think so. He at least learned to trust in the team. He'll make a fine Unit Chief one day for a BAU team. He's not fully there yet, but it won't be horrible if he did have to fully step up. The team is working small cases at the moment as we hunt for a new media liaison and another profiler to fill Prentiss' spot. I have been working on finding a few people to try. The media spot is easy to fill, but the profiler is a little harder."

"What happened to your other one?" Spencer asked.

"She was pulled up to work another job and then was fired from it. Well fired is not the right word there. She was pushed away from that job into another that she hates at the State Department. I tried to keep her, but it was taken out of my hands."

"She didn't want it?"

"No. She didn't want to leave."

"Why can't you get her back?"

"I'm being stonewalled on that. My tech analyst and I have been splitting up the duties, and now she's taking on most of it. Another agent has been helping with the being in front of the camera stuff."

"Why can't that agent do it?"

"He could. I just...I want JJ back. She was good for the team and after Prentiss. I just want someone who will understand the pain. We all are hurting, and we all deal with it, but she was the one that knew how to make sure that we all had what we needed. She's a good agent, a great friend, and she's missing us as much as we are missing her."

"I worked with a JJ a while back. Lady, who was from the State Department. She used to be an FBI agent."

"Blond?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah. She called me Spence, it was interesting. Wright is the one that shipped her home. What they wanted from her she wasn’t trained for. They thought that she was small, frail-looking, and yet good at what she did, but she wasn't a full profiler. She didn't have a single thing that we needed her for. Wright let me yell at the asshole who had been the one to bring her out here. A woman named-" Spencer laughed as he blanked on the name. He couldn't for the life of him remember. He had hated her on sight, and Wright had been more than happy to let him deal with her to soothe his anger at the mission going fucked because of her. "Strauss. Erin Strauss. I think I tried to make myself forget her name."

"My Section Chief. I wasn't aware that she was part of that."

"I probably shouldn't have said that. The mission ended in failure when the assets were all killed. We had a traitor on the mission, and my team ended up hunting him for six months until we killed his ass."

"So, what did you think of JJ?"

"She's a beautiful woman who loves her son. She was always talking about him and her man. Will I think his name was. She liked hanging out with my team because none of the guys hit on her. A few remarked, but as soon as they were shut down, they backed off. I don't allow that shit on my team. Well, Wright doesn't, and I make sure. Of course, it's been the same guys for a long time. I don't really have to worry about that, I don't think."

"Your guys are all good. Though they also didn't stop glaring at me for weeks after that fuck-up of a mission."

"They are a bunch of good guys. They just don't like their toys messed with, and even though I am their superior officer, none of them look at me as anything but their toy. Hell, I worked with another team for a mission, and three of the guys went to Wright to tell them that sharing toys got them broken. One of them wanted to tag along. Wright ended up sending Torres with me. I'm an asset, no matter what my rank, I have flawless language skills, while the words might not always be said with the correct inflection, I know the words and I can read them. I have combat engineering training and a list of degrees that keeps on getting longer from the time between deployments."

"Yeah, your dossier was huge. I thought at first that I had two people's academics when I was reading it while being shipped over here. But then I checked the numbers on each page as well as the order and realized that it was a single person. Your profiling skills are not listed."

"That's a hobby that the FBI indulges with the hope of luring me over to them one day. I'm not against that if I make it through my years in the Navy and can still be a field agent. I think I'll look into it at a later time."

"I have no clue where you would want to go, but I'm pretty sure that you could write your ticket anywhere."

Spencer nodded his head in agreement. He looked outside and saw that night was in full dark now. He didn't feel tired at all, even though he should. It was another planning day, so it wasn't going to be horrible if he was a little too slow to start. The talks with Aaron had been getting more and more detailed. It would be stupid simple for Spencer to tip over into more with Aaron, but this wasn't the time or the place. Spencer couldn't let that happen. He was still in the military, and no matter how much posturing and advancements were happening with DADT and the repeal of it. It was still something that could get Spencer thrown in jail at the worst and out of the Navy, disgraced.

"Hey, Doc, you awake?" Flores called out from the door. It was soft, and it wouldn't have woken up Spencer if he had been asleep.

"No, I'm fast asleep," Spencer said.

Flores laughed and opened the door. He had two bottles of beer in his hand and handed him over to Spencer when he stood up. He twisted off one cap and handed it to Aaron before opening up his as well.

"Where did you get these?" Spencer looked at the label to see that it was a local brew of some kind. He took a sip and found that it wasn't that bad, and it was cold.

"Spoils from a raid that the Marines went on. It was interesting, and they shared some with us when we caught them unloading the beer. We got enough for one for everyone, including Agent Hotchner."

Even though Spencer wasn't looking at Aaron at that point, he knew that he was glaring. The team had called him Hotch right up until the whole mess with the mission. After that, it was Agent Hotchner, and Aaron couldn't do a damned thing about it. Spencer let the team have their little fun with that. It wasn't hurting anyone, and it at least stopped them from wanting to actually hurt Aaron.

"Well, thanks for sharing with us," Aaron said.

"You are most welcome, Agent Hotchner. Have a good night, and don't do anything that we wouldn't do."

Spencer laughed and shoved the door shut, pushing Flores out of the room. "It's not like there is much you all haven't got up to at one point or another."

Flores' laugh followed as he walked away from the room. The other rooms around them were all empty, the officers and team leads who lived out of them were gone on small missions that had them bunking down. At the moment, the only SEAL team that was currently there was Spencer's half of a platoon. The other half was out escorting a diplomat somewhere. Torres had won the rock, paper, scissors game, and Young had lost, so they had to go on it. Spencer still laughed at the look on Young's face when he lost.

"Cheers," Aaron said as he leaned forward on the bed and held out the bottle.

Spencer clinked his neck off of Aaron's before he dropped down onto the bed. His ass didn't feel like sitting on the cement floor anymore. "Budge over."

"Sure." Aaron moved but not a lot.

Spencer dropped down and kept a good distance between them. Not enough that actually made it any better, he could feel a little heat from Aaron's body.

"So, what about people waiting for you at home?"

"Just dad," Spencer answered.

There was a feeling in the room, and Spencer wasn't sure what it was. It wasn't tension, or it was, and it wasn't a kind that Spencer knew.

"You know who I have waiting for me. So no girlfriend?"

"My father wishes I settled down with a nice person. I just...Dad never had anyone, and he was fine. He was a good person without a wife. I just don't want someone who is going to nag me when I get home from a mission or while I am gone because they are lonely. I just to even leave dad alone for as long as I do, and he's perfectly fine on his own."

"What has he done since you've joined up? It seemed like he kind lived his life around yours."

"He started to volunteer at a hospital, taking patients to and from their chemo treatments, and staying with them for the company while I was in training. Once I got on a team in Little Creek, he moved house here, and he volunteers with the VA and takes a couple of people to their appointments for chemo. Still, he doesn't do it every day like he did in California."

"That's still a good thing."

"Yeah, he's strong enough to not get too attached but also understand that people are going to die. It's chemo, and that means that people are going to die. He's been going out with a few people from the base who he's made friends with when coming to see me."

Spencer tipped his bottle up to his lips and drank it. The beer was good. Better than the one that he had been drinking before, the contraband that came in after the new influx of people in it. Spencer had snagged them to share with Aaron but hadn't grabbed many because he didn't like to drink while on deployment. What the others on the team did what they needed to relax. Spencer didn't need that. A good book or a chat with his father, and he was fine. He had his ways of relaxing, and the others had theirs, but they never made fun of Spencer for his. Yeah, they talked him into at least coming and being around them. He could curl up close to the fire as they talked and drank and did all manner of other things that included playing soccer, football, or basketball. The dirt of the land made hockey hard, but they had tried it once.

This was what Spencer feared losing if he left the Navy. His family. There was no way that anyone would ever replace any of these guys in his life. No one had accepted him the way that he was since Freddie. No one had been anywhere near accepting of him like them. He wanted to be happy and happy was with his team.

"Dad's team was all around the country, but he called them and talked to them as much as he could. Checking in on them to make sure that they were all alive. It was hard to let them, but he had done it long before he met me. I became his team, his family. He's proud of me no matter what I do with my life. He cried when I graduated BUD/S, and he was there even though no one knew it."

"Why not?" Aaron asked.

They were closer now, shoulders touching. Spencer looked at Aaron out of the side of his eye and saw that he was taking a drink. The bob of his Adam's Apple was something that made Spencer swallow thickly. He didn't need this. He didn't need this rearing its ugly head now. Not when it would cost him everything.

"Because I didn't want to be labeled with his name and his legacy until I was already as far as I needed to be on a team. My team was shocked as hell when Dad came to the bar where I was getting to know them. I beat the pants off of Long at pool. I didn't even let him get a shot in before I sunk the eight ball."

"Vegas."

"Yeah, Dad loved that part. Getting to come up and say something about that. Poker, pool, anything with angles and math I can usually win at. They don't even play cards with me. Even war. We tried that once. They all got pissed. Solitaire even sucks."

"You remember where all cards are and can keep on going with them."

"Yeah."

"What would you think of me if I said that I was happy that no one is waiting for you at home?"

"I don't understand." Spencer frowned as he tried to figure out why Aaron would care at all about anyone waiting at home for him. Then Aaron was moving. The beer was pulled from Spencer's hand, and then a hand was sliding behind Spencer's head to pull him to where Aaron wanted him.

The press of lips on lips had Spencer gasping, and Aaron didn't even try and act like it wasn't what he wanted. Spencer felt the tangle of tongues before he really registered it. He grabbed Aaron's shit, not sure if he wanted to pull him closer or push him away. It had been so damned long since he had kissed like this.

Aaron kept the kiss well above a rating that would allow for kids to watch it. He caught Spencer's other hand with his and threaded his fingers with Spencer's, holding his hand. It was intimate in a way that had Spencer shuddering. He could feel his arousal pitching up, and he needed to control it, but the way that Aaron was kissing him, like Aaron was drowning and Spencer was his only source of oxygen, was something that made Spencer's brain melt.

The sound of someone shouting down the hall had Spencer jerking away from Aaron. A little pain from where Aaron's fingers had been tangled in the hairs on Spencer's neck had his ardor cooling down. Spencer needed to visit the barber ad he had planned on it the next day. His hair wasn't at the point where it would get him in trouble, but it was near there.

"I can't-" Spencer said, swallowing. His lips still felt swollen, and his head was up in the clouds. It had been one of the best kisses in his life, and he wasn't ever going to be able to get it again. "Aaron, I can't. I can't do that. It's still something that could get me thrown out. It's not been fully changed yet. I knew that when I put on the uniform the first time. I made my choice."

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't be sorry. If I were a weaker man or someone who didn't care about what my uniform means, I would shove you down on that bed and do dirty things to you and allow you to do them to me, but I just...I can't."

Aaron moved to where he was facing Spencer fully. He reached out and cupped the sides of Spencer's face and leaned in.

"One kiss goodbye," Aaron asked as he got close enough that Spencer could feel his breath on his face.

"Chaste," Spencer said, and he closed the distance, pushing into Aaron's hands.

The kiss was soft and chaste, and Spencer kind of felt his heart break a little from it. He wanted more of it, but he couldn't. It wasn't who he was.

### November 2011

Spencer felt the fabric fall over his eyes, and he jerked to get away from it, but hands grabbed his shoulders and then his hands when he tried to fight off the person. He smelled Torres’ nasty assed cologne that he wore while trying to find a woman for the night. He calmed down when he heard Agnew laugh.

"You are coming with us, Sir," Rivera said.

"I have work to do," Spencer said.

"You can do it on Monday. We were given the weekend to do what we wanted, and I know that Wright included you in that after the hell of the last few weeks before we came home. We've all been home long enough to get used to being home. Your father is not expecting you at all until at least sun up, and we have plans."

"Who is this we?" Spencer tried to see how sixteen of them going around would work. He figured that with Torres' cologne, they were going bar hopping at minimum.

"Your squad. You turned thirty in a hellhole in the middle of the desert. We are going to have some fun and pretend it's your birthday, Doc," Rivera said.

"And the blindfold?"

"Well, that's going to stay until we get to where we are going. It's a party, a surprise party for you."

"I don't know if I like that."

"Do you trust us, Sir?" Kellett asked.

"Of course."

"We aren't going to hurt you. Agnew picked up clothes for you to change into so you don't go in fatigues."

"And if I put my foot down?" Spencer asked.

"We would be upset, but drop you at home." Abbot sounded like he had just had his puppy kicked in front of him.

"I'm at your mercy, guys," Spencer said.

"Good. You can get dressed, but you aren't going to see what you are in until at the place we ended up."

Spencer allowed Agnew to shove him into a bathroom and guard it while he got dressed. He kept to the spirit of what the guys wanted. He was more than willing to indulge his guys if this was going to make them feel better. No one had died, but a few had their minds fucked with after a short few days stint as captives of a small group of terrorists. They had not been able to get out like Spencer had been able to get them out.

Spencer had been with the group that had gone after them, but the other half of the team had been too injured. Young had been pissed he wasn't able to go after his guys. Spencer, in the words of Rivera, had celebrated his Independence on them. Spencer's squad had freed the other guys before anyone died, but the mental ability to come back from it was questionable.

Getting dressed and then being led out of the base while blindfolded was strange as hell, but the razzing from the guards and everyone else they passed made the team laugh. That was all that Spencer really needed. He tried to figure out where they were going, but the guys were good at spinning him and running him in circles to where he wasn't sure where the Jeep was that they got in, and therefore, he had no clue where they left the base from. He knew where his keys had been left, but Agnew and Rivera had copies as they sometimes drove him home or he them when any of them were drunk. They could have easily moved it from the standard parking to elsewhere with help to pick him up in a weird spot.

Little Creek and its surrounding areas were fun to let loose in, but Spencer wasn't sure exactly what the guys had in mind for them that night.

"You guys are lucky that my stomach can stand this," Spencer said as whoever was driving took a turn fast enough that Spencer had to grab hold of something to stop from dangling out of the Jeep. He was strapped in, but that didn't help limbs at all.

"Eh, we've seen you do worse while driving. You'll be fine." Agnew punched Spencer in the shoulder softly.

The trip in the Jeep took nearly an hour, and Spencer was sure that part of that was them fucking around with him. He was hungry now and knew that wherever they were doing, bar food was going to be the meal on offer.

"So, how do you feel about dancing with a blindfold on?" Kellett asked when the Jeep finally came to a stop. The voice came from Spencer's side, so he knew that it was Kellett driving. They had found the one thing that he was good at. Kellett was nerves of steel when you put him behind the wheel during a firefight.

"That's a no."

"Well then, when we get inside, I'll take it off of you," Agnew said.

There was the sound of the beating of the base for inside, and Spencer knew they were at a club of some kind instead of a bar. He could smell a few restaurants near, and his stomach growled.

"They have good food here, I've been told," Torres said as he came up from somewhere. He had to have been in the other vehicle. Now that they were based here, it was easy to bring their own cars to and from the base. It was interesting to see what each other drove. Spencer had his Jeep that was close to what Joe had, and the other guys went for trucks or bigger Jeeps, Cherokees instead of Spencer's Wrangler. It was something that he enjoyed driving, especially when it wasn't winter. Though sometimes having the top down in winter was nice.

Spencer allowed someone to lay a hand on his shoulder. He felt the movement and reached out. He grabbed a shoulder in front of him. He smiled as they walked like that. A middle to let Spencer know that he was safe. The music got louder as they entered the building.

"Birthday boy in the building!" Diaz near yelled.

"Hey!" Spencer said. He dropped his hand from the person in front of him. He could feel the people around them. Hands on the back of his head startled Spencer. He felt the fingers digging in, taking off the blindfold. He blinked a few times to clear his eyes and get them used to the lights. There were a lot of people, but the club was actually sunk mostly down into the ground. It was interesting to see that. It wasn't until Spencer saw the two guys making out in the middle of the floor that Spencer noticed the entire club was an explosion of every single sexuality. There were flags for every sexuality that Spencer knew had a flag and a few for ones' that he didn't. Spencer looked at the team. Seeing them all looking around. Rivera was there at his side.

"So we think we figured you out," Agnew said.

"Yeah?"

"Any port in a storm," Rivera answered with a laugh.

Spencer reached out and shoved at him. He looked around at the rest of the guys to see that none of them looked disgusted. He swallowed, afraid to let them see this side of him. He really didn't need to be the one to do this kind of thing. He was the officer. He should just let them have their fun.

DADT had been repealed all the way, and there was no limitation on being out and serving, but Spencer hadn't done a single thing about it yet. The SEALs were rough and tumble, and it wasn't the place for that kind of thing. Yet this was just them. This was his team who had brought him here.

"See anyone who you wouldn't kick out of bed for eating crackers?" Abbot asked as he slipped in between Rivera and Spencer to look at Spencer.

"I don't know. I'm not one for just the package. What's inside has to be good as well."

"Well, you aren't going to find that up here. Let's go and get a drink in each of us. We have a few DDs who are coming by later to take us back to base to sleep this off, but your dad will pick you up, and Alana is meeting Rivera and Agnew here in a little bit. She can deal with her two infants then." Abbot pushed off the railing and made his way to a lady who was standing on the stairs. He talked to her for a moment before taking her hand and leading her down to the floor below.

The rest of the team took that as a reason to scatter around.

"Harlow from Ten is going to drive your Jeep back to your place in the morning. We figured that it was best as a drunk ass sailor transport," Agnew said before he slipped past

"Yes, we don't need a repeat of puke in the Mustang."

Rivera was dancing with a woman already, sowing the seeds of his not being attached. While someone like Spencer was accepted, their triad relationship was still a way away from being that way, but all three had gone into it with open eyes, and they weren't hurting a single person at all.

Spencer watched people for a long time before he made his way down to the bar to get a drink. He settled for a scotch on the rocks and then went back up to watch. He watched a lot of the team dancing with ladies who looked like a lot of them were there just to have fun. Given that the one that Rivera was dancing with was eyeing another female dancer more than she was Rivera, he had found a lady who loved the ladies as his partner.

"Want to dance?" a man asked as he leaned against the bar beside Spencer. Spencer downed his drink before he looked at the man. He was tall with blonde hair. Just about Spencer's height. He had a little muscle on his body but not nearly as much as Spencer did. Spencer's was hidden behind the near silk shirt that he was wearing and the tight jeans. He was a little shocked that it was an outfit that Agnew had picked for him. It was perfect and made him look hot as hell. He would totally check himself out if he had been on the prowl.

"I don't know if I do or not. Why don't we get another drink, and we can discuss that?" Spencer asked.

The man scoffed and turned away. Spencer wasn't all that upset when he left, and Spencer was alone again. He looked down into the crowd again, sighting every single one of his team before he relaxed to watch the rest of the people.

A hand appeared on either side of Spencer with their grip firm on the bar. Spencer wanted to turn around in the hold, but the man wasn't touching him in any way, shape, or form. He was just bracketing his body on either side of Spencer. His arms were hairy but not overly. Just enough to be kind of sexy to Spencer, the muscle of the arms was accentuated by the way that the sleeves on the shirt were rolled up.

"Do you want to dance at any point in the evening?"

"I don't know. I'm not much of a dancer unless it's leading to something more than just dancing." Spencer liked this. The not knowing who was behind him. He was sure that he could take him if he needed to or at least hurt him enough that he wouldn't do a damned thing more to him.

"I saw the rest of your guys watching you. One of them watches you every few minutes. A protective bunch aren't they?"

"That's what we do, watch each other to make sure that no one is messing with us."

The man laughed, a deep sound to it that made Spencer's gut twitch a little in arousal. No one should sound that good just laughing.

"Then why don't we give them something to watch." One of the hands slipped off of the bar and touched Spencer's hip. It was barely there at first, and then when Spencer didn't do anything to stop him, it pressed in harder. The hand was warm, and Spencer let his lips part so his exhale could be heard. He still wasn't sure that he wanted to do this. His guys seemed fine with it, but this was...Spencer was so far out of his depth.

"First time since you joined the military?" the man asked.

"Yes." It wasn't wholly the truth, but it was close enough.

"Then let's take it slow. Join me for a dance, and I'll see if I can seduce you into my bed for the evening."

"I don't do strings," Spencer said.

"One night stand with someone as hot as you, that's fine with me. As your friend said, I wouldn't kick you out of bed for eating crackers."

Spencer laughed and turned, the man's hand went right back to the new hip that was closest to it. The man was handsome, the face was strong, and his eyes were sharp blue. His hair was a dark brown that had highlighted tips. "Kiss me first. No sense in even dancing if we have nothing else working for us."

"I like the way you think, sailor." The man dipped his head down and kissed Spencer. The hand on Spencer's hip slipped back enough to where the fingers spread over his ass cheek, and Spencer gasped, allowing the kiss to deepen. Yeah, they could so do this. He tried to follow the man, but the hand on his hip kept him back when the man pulled away. "My name is Dom."

"Dom?" Spencer asked.

"Short for Dominic. What's your name?"

"Spencer. Short for well Spencer."

"Cheeky. Cheeky. I like that. So come with me, and we can dance and then get the hell out of here."

"That sounds good." Spencer let Dom take his hand and lead him down to the floor.

Spencer lost track of time as he danced with Dom, the worries that he had slipping away with each new song, and no one assaulted them.

"How do you feel about bacon?" Dom asked when they were leaving the dance floor.

Spencer's lips were kiss swollen, and Dom's looked as bad as Spencer's felt.

"As in..."

"Eating it for breakfast. I do like to cook for my one night lovers if they stick around long enough."

"Do you have a car here?" Spencer didn't mind following Dom back to his place. He was sure that a car could be found, or a taxi called for the guys who were planning on using his Jeep to get someplace. Spencer texted his dad and told him not to worry about picking him up.

"I don't. I live just down the block, and I walked here. I figured that we could walk."

Spencer grabbed Dom's shirt and pulled him closer to kiss again. They were nearly the exact same height, with Dom just a hair shorter than him. As Spencer got him close, he saw the tattoo. Army Ranger. Spencer looked up at Dom with what had to be a gobsmacked looked on it.

"I left after two tours of duty and work privately now," Dom said as he pulled Spencer's fingers from his shirt and kissed Spencer's knuckles. "I left because I was tired of hiding what I was, who I wanted to have a relationship with. I've attracted a few into my life that were tired of it as well. Though I'm shocked that someone as pretty as you hasn't been pushed into leaving just on rumor alone."

"My Commander is not an asshole, and he stops all rumors about anyone on his team and has for a long time. That kind of shit gets people killed, and my team and I do our best to bring each other home every single God-damned, so he doesn't care what we do. Though, now that it's all free, we don't exactly have to be as circumspect as we were before. I'm looking forward to seeing how this changes things."

Hours later, Spencer rolled over, hearing the sound of his dog tags rustling on the bed. He looked at where Dom was cooking breakfast. Dom had a large loft space at the top of a building. Spencer could see everything from here. The bathroom was the only spot that had walls around it.

"I'm surprised you don't have any tattoos yet."

"I keep putting the guys off. I'm the only one on the team without. I want to find one that I really like, and nothing has caught my eye yet. What do you think would look good on me?"

"The Trident. Right over your heart. You are someone that could rock that." Dom turned around to look at Spencer. He was wearing just an apron that had a kiss the cook line on it. Spencer saw him smile before he turned around toward the stove again.

Spencer stretched on the bed and grinned as he felt the bruises on his hips give him a little pain as he enjoyed what his body felt like. Dom had been great. It had felt wonderful, and the memories were going to be good for a while. Dom had been wonderful, the three times they had sex.

"Coffee?"

"Yes, please. I love coffee. Almost more than I love blowjobs."

Dom laughed. He plated up the food. He poured out two cups of coffee.

"Black for me is fine," Spencer said. He moved to sit up in the bed and pulled the sheet over his naked lower half. There was something about being naked and eating that had lost its thrill when he had grown up. Dom carried over the tray with the food and settled it down in front of Spencer, kicking out the legs as he did. Spencer grabbed the closest cup of coffee to him and took a drink of it. The plate was full of standard breakfast foods. Bacon, fried potatoes, and eggs. A good amount for him to eat. It was a good spread. He grabbed the fork on the plate and gave Dom a smile. "Does everyone get this kind of treatment when they stay over?"

"No. Just special ones. No matter what you think, you were brave last night. Your team might have brought you there, but you confirmed it all by leaving with me. So a good breakfast for you."

"You might turn my head."

"I wouldn't say no to more of a good rough and tumble in bed with you again, but I don't want more than that."

"My father calls the Navy my wife or husband, depending on the day and the time and the flings that have me cheating on her. Don't worry, Dom. I'll only get attached to your cock and not your heart."

Dom laughed, and he grabbed a slice of toast from the plate and stuffed it into Spencer's mouth. Spencer bit down and tore off a chuck before he pulled away. Sex with Dom was fun, just what Spencer needed.


	14. Chapter 14

## Chapter 14

### November 2015

Kellett was twitchy. Spencer understood that because he was as well. Kellett was with Spencer for a quick little run on talking to an informant. The rest of the squad was watching the area to make sure that nothing horrible happened. Still, Spencer couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Spencer had spent his years in the Middle East talking to people when he wasn't on missions. He was learning about them, their fears, their hopes. Earning their trust by being trustful and faithful. That was why Spencer was where he was, waiting to talk to a confidential informant.

"Kellett, sweep," Spencer said when Tia was twenty minutes later. Spencer clicked his radio, and there was nothing. "Hold."

"Yes, Sir," Kellett said.

Spencer turned to look at him. He frowned and then clicked the radio again, there was nothing. No contact.

"Out," Spencer ordered. He tapped on Kellett's shoulder when the man was turned around and started out of the room they were in. It was a long hallway, and the doors had been cleared when they entered, but they cleared each one of them again. The front door was in sight, but just as Kellett was getting there, Spencer heard a thumb behind him. He spun, gun raised, but before he could fire at the form in front of him or even see it really, he felt pain at the base of his skull.

* * *

The first thing that Spencer knew was that his head was killing him. He shifted a little before opening his eyes. He was on the floor on his side with what felt like a rope around his wrists. He listened. He could hear breathing in the room with him. It was Kellett. He had a slight catch in his breathing when he slept on his side. Spencer had sent him to get it checked out, but it was nothing that was impeding his breathing, so it was noted and ignored unless it became an issue.

Beyond the room, there wasn't a lot of noise at all, or the room they were in was mostly soundproofed. Spencer opened his eyes, blinking a few times to get them used to the light that was coming in from the window. He looked around. It was a fairly large room with nothing on the walls. The window was barred, and it looked strong. The walls were concrete, so there was going to be no getting out that way.

"Guess the metal lock pick you slip into your clothes ain't gonna so us jack shit, huh?" Kellett asked after a few minutes.

"Nope. And I'm not paranoid enough to wear a knife in my buckle. Though I think that I might be after this."

Kellett laughed, but there was no humor in it.

"So, what do we know?" Spencer asked.

"I saw three guys. One dropped behind you, and as soon as you started to turn, a second dropped between us. I tried to run, but a guy dropped in front of me. I heard a commotion outside from the team. I think that they figured out we were not on the comms anymore. You were knocked out, and I was gassed. I dropped like a rock because my knees and shoulder are killing me."

"My shoulder is, as well. So they want us alive and alone." Spencer sat up, and his head swam a little bit. A concussion, he was sure. Low grade as the symptoms weren't that bad. "Give me your symptoms."

"Sure, Doc." Kellett spent only a few minutes giving off his health status. He seemed just fine.

"Chloroform, I would say. The gas got your face, and it was just like a rag over your nose. You inhaled a lot of the fumes. It's bright outside, so we either slept very little or for an entire day, but let's go with very little."

"I can see where the wound just under your helmet is still bleeding a little, so I would agree with sleeping very little."

"We need to get free. That's our main goal in this. So what do we have?" Spencer looked around the room with a careful eye. There was nothing outside of the hole in the floor at the side of the room. It was small, and Spencer was sure it was the source of the rank smell in the room. That had to be where they were supposed to use the bathroom. Spencer had done worse in training, so that wasn't an issue.

"We have the clothes on our backs, boots, shoe strings."

"An extra pair at that," Spencer said.

"What?"

"I have an extra pair of laces in the front of my boot. My big toe is long enough that my shoe is longer than most, so I have room to tuck the laces into the gap where my other toes aren't as long."

"That's where the extra laces came from that were used for Long's splint that one time."

"Yes. It's a trick that Dad taught me. Now, if only I was a super spy and had a knife in my boot."

Spencer knew that morale was going to be the biggest worry between them. Keeping it up to get them through whatever the hell they were going to be put through.

"So, do you think we were sold out, or your informant was tortured for information?"

"Speculation is just going to make us worry more, Kellett. Let's focus on the things that we can change and do anything about. Help me stand up. I want to see what my concussion is like, and then I want you to look out the window. Tell me everything that you can see." Spencer's legs were shaky as he slowly stood up. Kellett was there making sure that Spencer wasn't going to pass out on him.

The room spun a little bit, but Spencer was able to endure it as he stood up. He made sure that he was on good footing before he pushed Kellett toward the window.

"Desert and a few trees. I think that everyone is inside except for a guy on patrol."

"Okay, it's your job to watch him while he's patrolling. They left you with your watch, keep time on that, and we can figure out when it is the best time to make a run for it."

"Yes, Sir," Kellett said.

Spencer tried to focus on himself. Checking over everything about his well-being as well as he could so, he could tell Kellett what to do.

Time was kept by watches, and it was seven hours, and the sun was dipping low before someone came, and the door opened to their room. The door was metal and thick with two flaps. One right at eye level for someone of standard height, and the other was like a dog door but smaller.

Spencer saw the two guards before he made a move toward the door. He stepped back and looked at the man behind the guards.

"Welcome to your new home. You'll be staying here for the time being until I can get a new place fortified to make sure you can't escape."

The accent was American, but the man wasn't someone that Spencer recognized. He still wasn't sure what to do to escape, so he just waited to see what the man was going to do. Spencer watched as another person entered the room with a tray of food. It was all paper. Paper cups, paper bowls, paper plates. There weren’t even utensils of any kind. The food at least smelled good.

"Enjoy gentleman. You'll get breakfast in the morning, and then our conversations can begin." The man stepped out of the room and then the guards and the door was shut.

"I'll eat first, and then you can after I don't die or pass out or something like that." Kellett looked like he wasn't going to broker any argument.

Spencer nodded his head.

Dinner passed quickly, and then it was watches while they both took turns sleeping. Breakfast was shoved through the lower hole in the door, and Spencer ate that first. There was nothing in it that made Spencer feel off.

Then when the sun was starting to warm the room, the door opened up again.

"You and I are going to talk, Commander Reid."

"You can ask whatever you like, but I'm not going to say a single thing." Spencer stood up, and the room kind of pulsed. His head was still getting better. He needed time to get better. It wasn't going to come though.

Spencer faced what was coming with no fear in his eyes.

* * *

"It's been three days," Kellett said when Spencer stumbled into the room after being shoved by the guards into there.

Spencer was bleeding, and he knew it. He looked at his watch to see that it had been three days, even if those days were bleeding together. It was why they were allowed to keep their watches. It was something that allowed them to track the time, another method of torturing them.

Kellett hadn't left the room yet, and Spencer knew that it was another form of torture. Whoever the sick fucker who took them was, he knew how to push buttons. Kellett was like a puppy who knew that things were bad but didn't know what to do to make things better.

"Here," Kellett said as he lifted up the bowl with dinner in it. It was a thick stew of some kind.

Spencer didn't even care what kind of meat was inside of it. He let the bowl rest on his palms and tipped it back to drink it. Seven of his ten digits on his hands were hurt in some fashion. Four had been dislocated, and Spencer had put them back in place on his own. Kellett was beside him with grief. He had only been hurt one time. When he had tried to demand that he be taken in place of Spencer.

There was a game to this whole thing, but Spencer hadn't figured it out yet. He hadn't figured out how in the hell to get done what needed to get done, which was get them out of there. The torture was followed by questions that Spencer had no way of knowing the answer to. It was like this was window dressing for something, Spencer just hadn't figured it out yet.

"Thanks," Spencer said when the paper cup was offered up, and Spencer took a drink. The water was crisp and clean, obviously from a well-maintained source. The food was good, and neither of them was losing weight. Spencer couldn't do as much working out as Kellett did as push-ups and the like were all out of the question, but sit-ups and running in place were perfect.

Spencer knew that he was getting to where doing that was going to hurt, though. The beatings were getting worse, the damage to his fingers was massive. The last bit had made it impossible for Spencer to hear from his left ear.

"They will find us, and they will rescue us." Spencer maintained that. He wasn't going to believe anything else.

Night came, and Spencer couldn't sleep. He was taking a watch when the door opened up, and one of the guards entered the room. He was alone and had no gun at all. Spencer frowned as that wasn't good. Then he heard someone else in the hall, and the other guard came in. It seemed that the high-level torture was coming out. Spencer stood up, and it woke up Kellett, who was up in a flash.

"So, how do you feel about getting your balls busted?" Spencer asked.

The guards looked at Spencer like he was insane.

"You know I have had a lot of people look at me like that over the years. It's crazy how much they think I am not a threat. You fuckers don't even have an excuse. You've watched me take tasers, lighters, my fingers pulled out of socket, broken. Yet you think I am a weak little bitch?" Spencer took a step forward. "I don't think so."

Kellett made a move, and it was all that Spencer needed. He darted in, forcing his fingers to move despite the pain, and he grabbed the knife that didn't have a clasp over it to keep it in the sheath. As soon as Spencer's fingers closed over it, he moved up. Slitting the guard's throat.

This could be a fucking trap for all that Spencer knew. He could be killing guards only to have them be confronted with more out in the hall. Kellett was holding his own against the man he was fighting, but Spencer stepped in and jabbed the knife up through the man's chest into his heart. He shoved up against with more force as he felt the life leaving the guy.

"Let's go," Spencer said. He stepped into the hallway and looked around as he heard Kellett ransacking the bodies for what they needed. Spencer kept the knife. It was going to be easier for him to wield. Even if they picked up guns.

"Oh, hey, this guy had a gun in the back of his pants."

"You keep it. I couldn't pull a trigger to save my own life at this point."

"I'll take the lead."

"No, you take the back. You keep your head on a swivel, and I'll make sure the way in front is clear. We know that the front is that way, so let's go that way and hope no one patrols this area. The first door we see that goes outside, we take it."

"Yes, Sir," Kellett said.

The hall was clear, and they got all the way to the door before someone came across them. It was another guard, and Spencer attacked him before he could get his gun out. He shoved a hand over his mouth, and before Spencer could gut him, he felt a knife jutting into him. They both collapsed, and Spencer stabbed the man through the neck before he could say anything. The blade in his side was jerked out as the body started to go into its death throes.

Spencer fell off of the man and flopped onto the ground. His hands hurt, his side hurt, and now he was going to die in this fucking hell hole. It was going to break Joe's heart.

"Here," Kellett said, and he was grabbing something and lifting up Spencer's shirt, and then there was pain as something was shoved over his wound then there was ripping.

Spencer forced his eyes to look. It was tape. Duct tape but still tape. He pushed his head up to look and saw that it was a ball of something that was being pressed to his skin.

"This is going to fucking hurt," Kellett said before he stuffed something into Spencer's mouth for him to bite on.

Spencer screamed it was muffled by the cloth in his mouth as the ball was pressed in hard on his side and then taped over it. Spencer was sure that Kellett used the entire roll of duct tape, but when he was done, Spencer wasn't leaking blood all over.

"Up," Kellett said. He pulled Spencer up and started them going. Spencer walked as well as he could with his feet hurting from the damage done to them. There was no guard thankfully as the route to come around was long, and usually, the late guard stopped to get a smoke in before coming back around. Spencer focused on putting one foot in front of the other as they made a run for it. He tripped over a rock at some point. He felt pain up his leg and groaned in protest at moving at all.

Spencer crawled over into some underbrush that was at the edge of the area they were in. He pushed with one foot to get where he needed to be. He heard the rev of an engine, and when Kellett got close, he pulled him in as well. It was but a minute later that a truck barreled past them to look for them. There were two vehicles in the area, left just in case they needed to move. The patterns of everyone in the area was elementary. The man who controlled it all very, very detail-oriented. At night after dinner was served, everyone left. Spencer had been left to walk as fast as he could through the halls. He had been made to keep on going until he was finally allowed in the room. It was a new technique to wear him down.

"Don't let me pass out."

"We killed three. That truck had five in it. That's eight. I'm going to go back and get supplies and the keys to the other truck. We can get out of here before they come back."

Spencer really didn't want to let him go, but it was the best option, even if Spencer went to sleep and passed out from blood loss at least Kellett wasn't going to be left here to die. He could get out and go and then at least bring the team back to get his body and to raid the place to make sure that they could hopefully track whoever this person was who wanted information.

There was a passage of time that Spencer wasn't able to keep track of as he laid there in pain. He wasn't even entirely sure if he passed out or not but then there was the sound of the softer sounding truck coming toward him. It sat idling and then Kellett was getting Spencer up.

Spencer was laid down on the seat with his head toward where it would rest on Kellett's thigh when he was in the driver's seat. An excellent way to keep his hand on Spencer's throat. Spencer was pretty damned sure that he wasn't going to make it but at least the kid tried.

"Which way, Doc?" Kellett asked.

Spencer moved his head enough to where he could see into the night sky. The stars were so bright since there was no light pollution in the area. Spencer pointed the way that they needed to go to head back home. It wasn't long before he was out like a light.

* * *

Spencer was in pain, that was all that he knew. He looked around the room he was in and knew he was in a hospital somewhere. He looked at the wall to see that it was military. He looked around and saw that no one was in there. He could see the heart rate monitor and saw that it was going crazy. He closed his eyes and then there was nothing.

A few more times of false waking up and then Spencer was fully awake. His pain was less but he was sore. He saw Wright looking out the window.

"Sir," Spencer said.

Wright turned and looked at him.

"You know, I've sat here for a lot of my guys over the years. Outside of stupid small things, I've never had to do this with you. I didn't realize that until I was standing here."

"How long have I been out?"

"Just about a day after Kellett drove you like a bat out of hell back to base. He laid on the horn the entire last mile. It scared the shit out of those on duty. They stopped him and he just pulled you out of the truck and demanded that someone had been come and get you before you died and then he would kill all of them because he wasn't going to see you die so close to home."

"He's a tough kid."

"I had to fight Rivera for the right to break the news to you."

"I lost my kidney and I tore something in my leg. Then the fingers." Spencer looked down at his hands. He could see three that had been broken were taped to the ones next. He curled his fingers as much as he could. There was the dull throb of pain from it but nothing horrible. "We need to get some testing done on my left ear as well as I can't hear out of it."

"Ear?" Kellett said nothing about that."

"Yes, well I hadn't got a chance to tell him. They did something during my last round of torture. It's not a total loss."

"You won't..." Wright stopped.

"If it doesn't heal, I know." Spencer gripped the edge of the bed under his hand and he tried to hold on. He didn't want to show weakness in front of Wright.

"You are being transferred for surgery on your knee. Back home, that is. Rivera and Agnew are going with you. Our team is being slotted home a week early. Another team is coming here to cover before the next rotation gets here. The rest of us will follow. As soon as you are cleared for transport back home, we will all say goodbye for now."

Spencer nodded his head and the pull of sleep was strong.

"Sleep, someone is in here with you all the time. I had to send Agnew off and he chased off Kellett."

"Why did they want me?"

"We are still working on that but we did get them. Including Creepy Guy as Kellett called the main man. The computers paint a horrible picture of what they wanted. Kellett told us that you were tortured about things you didn't know."

"Yeah. I assume to make me want to tell them things when they finally started to ask things that I would actually know. Their methods were not that hard to figure out."

"You are taking this better than I thought," Wright said as he sat down on the edge of Spencer's bed.

"I'm not taking it well but I don't do public things, Sir. I'll freak out in private when I have fewer eyes on me. Probably trash a room as much as I can with my injuries and then talk to a therapist. I mean, I'm already a pro at that shit."

"Yes, your attachment to your feelings and discussing them with strangers is forever something that no one on the team understands."

"Alana does and that's enough for me." Spencer cracked a smile. He knew that it wasn't a good smile but it was one. His world wasn't shattering yet; he still had time on that one but soon it was all going to crash down and he knew it.

Days later, Spencer was being escorted off of the med flight home by Agnew and Rivera. Alana and Joe were right there at the base of the ramp. Despite the pain and the stitches, Spencer sat up, and when his dad got close enough, he wrapped his arms around him tightly.

### December 2015

Spencer grabbed his crutches before he stood up from the bed. It wasn't that bad lately with his fingers that didn't need to be taped that much, so he was able to actually sleep in his bedroom instead of on the pullout couch down on the ground floor. He had been there the last few days as he was still in a wheelchair, but he had been graduated up to crutches for his leg that was still in the brace.

Stopping at the top of the stairs, Spencer listened to his dad cooking breakfast. He sat down on the top step and just listened. It was a sound that he used to cherish when he had been a teenager, even before he fully got over his guilt about not being enough for his mother. It was a regular routine, especially on the weekends, when breakfast wasn't rushed.

Spencer knew that he had been moody the last week with Joe, but he also knew that it was a part of healing. The hearing loss was just enough that it was going to ground him from the SEALs but not label him deaf enough for anything else. He wouldn't be able to go out into the field at all, ever. Unless the world was ending. Spencer didn't want a desk job. He really fucking didn't want to sit and watch other teams on spin-ups and know that it would never be him again.

There was still a lot of time left before he was allowed back on base medically. He had more than enough time to make his decision on what he wanted to do with his life.

Spencer startled at the sound of his cell going off. It was his email chime for things to do with the military that were not restricted. It was what was used for him for learning opportunities across the country more than anything else. Spencer dug out his phone and opened the email.

It was from the Director of the FBI, he wanted to meet for lunch on a day where it was convenient for Spencer and that he would come to him, as early as today. Spencer closed the email and saw that there was one from the CIA, no scratch that several from different parts of the CIA.

"Son?" Joe asked.

Spencer looked at where Joe was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"I think that some people are talking out of turn."

"Why?" Joe walked up the stairs and sat down beside Spencer. The stairs really weren't big enough for two grown men to do it, but Spencer didn't mind being pressed against Joe at the moment.

"I have job offers from the CIA. Many and the Director of the FBI wants to do lunch."

"You told me that the Director likes you and has asked you to leave the SEALs for the FBI before."

"I know, but I'm not even out of medical leave yet. There is nothing official on the docket anywhere that I'm even leaving the SEALs. I'm being given time to adjust before that's final."

"I never wanted this for you."

"I know dad, but I'd rather have this on me where I have enough skills to go out and do something else that's meaningful than to have it been Kellett who has no life beyond the Navy. He'd go insane outside of three months, not on active duty. He would take a job at the FBI or CIA, and any one of them would be happy to have him, but he wouldn't be happy."

"Will you?" Joe asked.

"I don't know. I really don't know. I've got months and months of rehab on my leg and another surgery before I can even be cleared for that kind of stuff. I don't know what I want, and that scares me."

Joe wrapped his arm around Spencer's shoulder and tucked him tightly to him. Spencer turned his head to bury his face into Joe's shoulder. Spencer had always talked about the FBI being his back-up, but he really hadn't thought that it would ever happen. He was a long way from getting to where he needed to be to actually go into the Academy.

Spencer knew that his leg was going to heal up just fine. He was going to get better there. A hearing aid would be required at certain points in his job, especially when out in the field and hunting someone.

"Hey, Dad. How do you feel about moving to DC or even Quantico?"

"I told you years ago, where you go, I go. I can do my hobbies anywhere."

"Volunteering with hospitals is a hobby now?" Spencer asked.

Joe laughed a little and bounced his shoulder. "It keeps me out of trouble and out of a wedding suit."

Spencer giggled. He hadn't giggled in years.

"So you said DC but also Quantico. That means the FBI Academy, you hate teaching like that. You hated when you had to teach a class at BUD/S when you broke your arm in your third year on SEAL Team 8. So...BAU?"

"I'm thinking so. Yes."

"Why?" Joe asked.

Spencer shook his head. He let go of his crutches and watched them slide down the stairs. There was a chair that stopped them from going any further away than that. He stood up slowly and held onto the railing that was there to help him down. It was better on his body to go down like this but easier to go up with crutches.

Joe was behind him to catch him just in case but never touched him unless Spencer wavered a little. Breakfast smelled good, and the first time in a long time, Spencer's stomach growled in hunger. He was hungry, and he wanted food. He had been going through the motions of eating just because he knew that he needed to. So far, he had been going through the motions of life for the past week, faking it until he made it. He knew that he wasn't fooling Joe, but then Joe had been through this before.

Spencer grabbed his crutches as he balanced on one leg. He settled himself on them before he started into the kitchen. The table was set up for breakfast with Spencer's pills laid out for him and coffee in a cup and still steaming.

"You don't have to tell me. I know that you loved the information on the profiling that the FBI gladly handed over when you got bored with everything that the Navy had to offer on anything to do with learning. Do you like it enough to do it for the rest of your life?"

"I think so. I mean, it's hunting terrorists at home. I mean serial killers but still terrorists in their own way. They just terrorize smaller areas for a shorter time, and it's more personal." Spencer settled himself at the kitchen table, leaning his crutches and just looking around.

This house didn't feel like home. Vegas never had, Pasadena never had. Even this place didn't feel like home. Home for a while had been with his team, on the planes on the way home after deployments or spin-ups. Home wasn't there as much, but there was still the draw.

"You said a name when you were in and out after surgery, Agnew texted me and told me."

"Okay," Spencer said.

"Aaron. He said there was only a single Aaron that you were around enough for it to be worth mentioning at all, that he knew of. He didn't tell me who it was, but he wanted me to know."

"And?"

"The last year, you've not gone out as much after getting home from the daily grind at the base or from spin-ups."

"Dad, please. Don't." Spencer gripped his fork tightly until his fingers were aching. He really didn't want to get into that at the moment. He wasn't sure what he was feeling at all.

The random hook-ups, even with Dom when he was in town long enough to snag him for an evening, had felt less and less enjoyable over the last few years. He hadn't looked at a single woman, and every single man that he went after outside of Dom was someone who looked or acted like Aaron Hotchner. He knew it, and he wasn't letting it shape his wants. Yet, if Spencer joined the FBI, there was that chance. He had no clue if Aaron had moved on.

"Dear God," Joe said.

"What?" Spencer asked.

"You fell in love with someone."

"No."

"Yes." Joe grabbed his coffee cup and took a sip of it.

"How? You've...you worked with him during a deployment."

Spencer shook his head. He didn't lie to Joe, not that way, but really, his father knew him way too fucking well, and Spencer kind of hated him at this moment.

"I know you, Spencer. I know every single thing about you. You have never looked like that about anyone ever. The closest was Freddie and the crush you had on him. Amelia and Dom have never had you looking like that at all. I'm happy. I am very happy for you, but you've never mentioned this guy before."

"Because between my job being here and his being there at the Academy, it was impossible. It was just easier to just ignore it all, but I think I might have fallen in love with him when he was working with us." It had been going around in his head for days, and part of why he was so grumpy, other than the whole, he wasn't able to be on his team anymore.

"You are the only person in the world, Spencer, who looks like you are dying while admitting that you love someone."

"I don't know what to do. He's got kids. Two of them."

"You do fine with Freddie's kids when you go and see him, or he comes down here to see you. Addie loves you. You do just fine with her."

"Yeah, I can deal with kids who I can get rid of easily. I'm not ready to be a father to kids. Two of them."

"Spencer, I wasn't ready either, but I did pretty well. It's not like he's going to want you to move in with him right away. You'll have time to see if you can do it. I mean, you latched onto me like a limpet. You will have time. And I'm here to help."

Spencer nodded. He looked at his food and tried to figure out if he was hungry anymore. He grabbed a piece of bacon and stuffed it into his mouth and chewed as he looked at the food. His stomach growled again in happiness at having good food in it.

"So when you are going to go and get your man?"

"When I get out of the Academy."

"So, FBI. I want to be in DC instead of Quantico. I think I'm done with living close to a base full of Navy guys."

"Sure. It's gonna be months before I can go to the Academy, so we have time to find a place that we really like."

"We can make a trip after your appointment next week. Your PT can be done not with the physical therapist but in a hotel room. I remember you saying it."

"Yeah. Monday, Thursday, and Friday I have to be there. So we can go up on Monday and come back late on Wednesday. Does that sound good?"

"Sure."

"I'll meet with the Director today for lunch. He said he would come to me. I think I want to do that."

"Then do it."

Spencer nodded his head.

### March 2016

"Welcome, Doctor Reid," John Richmond said as he walked up to Spencer and held out his hand.

"Sir, I'm glad to be here." Spencer had a bag over his shoulder. He was going to immerse himself into life at the Academy. He needed it. To center himself again in the new life, he was forging.

"I was excited when I saw your name on the list of Cadets joining the Academy. I'm glad that you were able to get your physical therapy going well enough to be here. I'm looking forward to seeing your results on everything here. I have meetings all day, but you said that you had a few things that you were going to have to talk to someone about before you chose where you wanted to go after this."

"Yes."

"Then, dinner. I'll text you the address of where I like to eat in Quantico before I head back. I always try and be here for the whole day when a new class starts up. It hasn't always worked out, but it's good enough for me. "

"Thank you, Sir. I should get going to be where I need to be."

"I understand what you want, Reid. I do, but you know that you aren't going to be able to hide it from the team that takes you in, right?" Richmond asked as he gave the nod toward the building.

"Oh, I know, Sir. I don't believe in making things harder on myself while I am here at the FBI, but I know that bullies exist everywhere. There are enough eggheads that go through all of this that I'm not going to be seen as all that different from them. However, a Navy SEAL who was medically discharged with full honors and obtained the rank of Captain for bravery in the field is a target. I'm not stupid enough to make myself that kind of target, Sir."

"I've talked with Commander Wright about you, have for a long time."

"Yes, Sir. He told me that when he was there at the party that my team threw for me to say goodbye to me being an active SEAL."

"There will be those at the Academy that have to know. All of your teachers. You are a heavy combat asset, Reid, and that means you can do more damage to some of these kids in this than someone twice your size and a fifth of your training. I know you don't want the Cadets to know, and I agree, but you move like no one else."

"Yup, and that's why it's easy to use my dad for that. It's no secret that I was adopted by him when I was young. I can just bend the middle stuff out of the way. I know how to push people to what I want them to believe and not actually lie to them. I'm someone for them to take down if they feel like they can get away with it in training. Before I was an Officer. I was able to command respect enough with my grades in what I was doing, my skills. Others failed out. I was the only Officer to make it through BUD/S and the final SERE training, Sir. However, I know what cocky assholes will do. My knee is good, and the muscles are strong, but if they got after, one of those times, it will be the weakness they need. I'm not going to have that buffer to stop the bullies from going after me this time."

"Go before you are late. That won't look good on anything for you."

Spencer nodded his head and turned to where he needed to go.

The morning was easy, and it was the afternoon, that was what Spencer was looking forward to. He had a small bit of hand to hand in the early part and then after that gun range. It was all to get a baseline for Spencer and the rest of the Cadets.

"Look at the doc," one of the more moronic Cadets said.

Spencer hadn't even learned any of their names unless they intrigued him. None of them did so far.

"Like what you see?" Spencer asked. They were all in the same kind of clothes as the working out clothes were standard issue. Spencer liked it. It made him feel like he was back on base in the same fatigues that everyone else was in.

"Fucking homo," the same guy said.

"You wish that you could take this on," Spencer said.

"Reid, Miller, in the ring. First to pin wins, the loser gets three laps at top speed."

"Let's go, stick," Miller said.

Spencer grinned.

"Hey, Miller?" the instructor called out just as they were getting into the ring.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Did we forget to tell you that Reid's father was a Navy SEAL? Taught him how to defend himself against jock bullies his entire life."

Miller looked at Spencer with shock on his face. Spencer just grinned. Every single one of the instructors at the Academy was more than willing to spread the half-truths about Spencer.

It was five minutes of Spencer playing around before he pinned Miller.

The rest of that training went off well, a few others tried to best Spencer, and a few were good at it, but Spencer was still close to his SEAL training. He was too good for them to get anything up on him. He would have to work to keep it, though, and that was where Agnew and Rivera and even Kellett came in handy. Spencer had already made plans with them to spar on occasion when they were home. Other guys from other teams offered as well. Spencer was pretty sure that he could find someone at the Navy part of Quantico to spar against. He wasn't sure that anyone in the FBI would be a good partner. He was ready to be shocked, though.

"Hey, Reid," Miller said when they all settled in the gun range. "Did your dad teach you to shoot as well?"

"Yup, from when I was a pre-teen and onward. Why? Afraid that I'll beat you at it as well? Don't worry, I'm in a grade above what you are. You'll still hold your ranking for a civilian."

Miller growled but stopped when their instructor entered the room. The instructor looked Spencer up and down before he snorted and laughed. Miller seemed to take that as the man thought Spencer wasn't worth anything.

"So what do you plan to do when your first strategy doesn't work?" the instructor asked Spencer.

"Kick their asses again and again until they cower when they see me, Sir."

"Well, then Captain Reid, get up here and show us your skills. If you can get within ten percent of my score, I'll pass you on this, and you can use this time to play with whatever weapons you want to try." The instructor walked over and pointed at the area in the range where a sniper rifle was laying in pieces.

Spencer stepped up to it and put the weapon together before getting into position with the lower area to lay down and sight the gun. He allowed the sounds of the range to fall away, but he didn't fire until he heard the call that the range was hot. Spencer fired a test shot into the center mass of the paper and then neatly put a bullet through the three areas on the paper that were labeled to be hit.

"Captain Reid?" Miller asked when the range was cleared.

Spencer stood up and broke the weapon down and laid it back where it was. He turned around and looked at the instructor. "I was warned you were an asshole, Agent Edgerton."

"Captain Reid is joining us from the Navy where he was honorably discharged to join us." Edgerton smirked at Spencer. "He will be in a different ranking in the range than anyone else. His goal is to beat me, not you. If you would like, you can try and beat us. That's up to you. I will not go easy on him as long as he keeps on performing. There is nothing that I can teach him. You, on the other hand, I can teach a lot to. Reid, I have a list of what I want from you there. You take the far end. Don't even think of not doing your best. I want to see what your aim is like after so long without doing it."

"Yes, Sir."

Edgerton laughed.

When it was all said and done, Spencer had damned good scores and was waived on the rest of the weapons training, but he was going to take some extended with Edgerton.

Spencer took to the track to get in a few miles before he went into Quantico to find dinner of some kind. Joe wasn't waiting on him and was actually still just getting the house set up. Joe had splurged for the home, going for a three-story monstrosity that was just wonderful. The third floor was all Spencer's while the second was Joe's and guest rooms. The first floor held a huge kitchen which had been the big draw for Joe.

"Dinner?" Edgerton asked as he stepped up to Spencer when he was done running.

Spencer watched the way that Edgerton looked at him and laughed.

"You should not be asking me to dinner."

"I took over today for a single bit of teaching to cover the normal person who does it while he goes and does something stupid. I'll not be signing off on you at all, and there is not a single person who would ever be able to prove that I passed you without cause. You shoot on par with some of our SWAT teams."

"I trained with my dad at a range he found that he liked here in DC. We moved up here as soon as I knew that I was going to be coming here."

"Yes, I was told to play nice. You never said yes or no to dinner."

"Dinner, yes. Anything else, no. I actually have my eye on someone else, and you don't hold a candle to him."

"I had to try. Then I'll call up a few friends while I am in town. If that's fine with you."

"Sure."

"Half an hour? I'll drive."

"Yeah."

Spencer was out of his dorm area of the Academy in more than enough time to find where Edgerton wanted to meet him. There was another guy with him. Dark skinned and laughing along with something that Edgerton was saying.

"Cadet Reid, this is Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan. Morgan, Cadet Spencer Reid." Edgerton gave Spencer a smirk after Morgan looked away from him.

"Agent Morgan, it's wonderful to meet you. BAU correct?" Spencer asked as he offered his hand over to Morgan when he got close.

"Yes."

Spencer could tell that Morgan's eyes were going over him and trying to figure out why he was joining the FBI as late as he was.

"I have several degrees under my belt, Agent Morgan. I'm the consummate forever scholar in the eyes of my father."

"I see. That's great." Morgan looked at Edgerton like he wasn't sure why Spencer was there. Spencer wasn't either, but he wasn't going to start out on the wrong foot with the people who would be his colleagues, at least not these ones. The other Cadets really didn't matter to Spencer.

Spencer had no clue if Morgan was still on Aaron's team or not. He would have to see about that if he was going to be hanging with him at all after this.

"Let's go see what the nightlife is like in Quantico." Edgerton waved for Spencer to get into the vehicle. Morgan walked around the edge and got into the front passenger seat. Spencer dropped into the seat behind where Edgerton got in.

# The End of Arc 2


	15. Chapter 15

# Arc 3

## Chapter 15

### August 2016

Aaron was not having a good day. There were killers on the loose, and not all of them had been caught. He was behind on paperwork and to top the whole shit show, as some of the younger agents said, he wasn't even going to get to pick the agent to replace Morgan. Aaron had been upset about that more than he wanted to admit, but he knew that things were not going smoothly. He didn't even know anything about the man other than he held a Ph.D. in something. The file that Aaron had on him was vague and looked like it was full out redacted at some points. Aaron knew that there were always going to be things that might be kept from him when it came to top-secret things, but his schooling and his work the last few years shouldn't be on a base level.

"Aaron," Dave said as he leaned in the door of Aaron's office. He had a grin on his face.

"Yes, Dave?"

"So the boy wonder and Director Richmond have entered the building. Garcia says that he's a hottie. Callahan thinks that he walks like everyone is prey, and JJ just gasped and said nothing."

"Thanks, Dave." Aaron looked at his paperwork and then sighed. He wasn't going to get it done today until at least he had met the new person. Thankfully, Aaron had made the Director agree to a six month trial period.

"I think that a stiff wind could kill him."

"And Anderson?"

"Anderson is keeping his head down and doing paperwork." Dave looked out into the bullpen and snorted before he pushed off the door jamb.

Aaron shook his head and stood up. He waved for Dave to leave the office and was heading toward the door himself when the Director stepped off of the elevator. Aaron stopped when he saw the man with him. Aaron figured that the several panes of glass between them all were warping what he was seeing because there was no way that it was Spencer with Richmond. Or Spencer was with him for a tour of some kind, and the agent was behind them.

"And this is the bullpen where you will be working." Director Richmond was looking around, and he sighted Aaron and smiled at him. "Hotch, this is your new agent."

"Reid," Aaron said. Aaron walked down the stairs to shake Spencer's hand. "Commander?" Aaron wanted to pull him into a hug, that five months spent with him overseas had left too big of a mark on him.

"I actually made it to Captain, never got my team to call me that in the field because I was awarded it after the last mission that put me out." Spencer was smiling as he said the words, but there was pain in his eyes.

Aaron looked Spencer up and down. He was walking fine. Anything that was enough to put him out of the military all the way would have left a bigger injury, and he never would have made it in the FBI as a field agent. Aaron had made sure the man he was getting was a field agent. That meant it was just an injury that put him out of the SEALs. Aaron could understand that because if he were out of the BAU, he would leave the FBI all together.

"You know each other?" Richmond asked. He looked puzzled.

Spencer was smiling again and looked a lot like the cat that got the cream. "Yes, Sir. Hotch and I met in Afghanistan when he was on duty over there in 2007. He's why I am here. He wooed me with the talk of his team. The family that the team was. I lost my family. They are still my family, but I don't get to go out and play with them like I used to."

"Captain?" Dave asked.

"I wanted to keep my head down in the Academy, and Agent Edgerton toed most of the party line. Captain Spencer Reid, formerly of SEAL Team 8." Spencer looked at Dave like he was afraid that Dave would have an issue with it.

The look of utter shock on everyone's faces, including Dave's, was something that Aaron was going to cherish for the rest of his life. It was pure fucking gold, and he loved it. Aaron had been shocked the first time that he had realized that the person he was talking to wasn't just an officer in the Navy but an officer that was directly over a SEAL team.

"I am down a kidney, and I have slight hearing loss in one ear. A hearing aid in the field will fix that, and even without it, I can hear fine, just muffled. I'll be fine and not a single issue in the field."

"Well, I'm done here. Reid, if you need anything, just let me know. I trust that you'll be fine with Hotch." Richmond was looking at Spencer.

"Yes, Sir. I trust him with my life."

The team said goodbye to the Director, and there were eyes all over them.

"Let's take this to the round table room." Aaron waved the team up, waiting for Spencer before he followed him up there.

Spencer put himself against the wall but didn't sit down. His eyes were darting around the room. Hyper awareness. That meant that something bad had happened. Which, Aaron knew. Nothing short of that would have got him out of the Navy without him kicking and screaming. Aaron wanted to make sure that he talked to Spencer alone before they started into the field.

"Sir," Garcia said as she entered the room. She stopped when she saw Spencer, and there was something on her face, but she didn't say a single thing. "Here, Sir. This came by inner courier, and I was to give it right to you."

"It's my unredacted file. I found out from Director Richmond that you had not been given everything. The look on your face told me that you hadn't even been told who I was."

"I had an agent put on my team to spy on me before by my former Section Chief," Aaron said. He took the file from Garcia and started to flip through it. It was mostly everything that he had learned while working on Spencer's team. There was more from over the last four years. Including a very dry read on what seemed like the torture, he endured at the hands of an unnamed terrorist that got him medically discharged from the Navy.

"Well, I'm sorry. I assumed that you at least would be told. I did not ask that to be kept from you."

"We were looking for an agent to replace Agent Morgan."

"I met him at the start of my run at the Academy. He was nice."

Aaron listened as a few of the team started to engage Spencer as Aaron read over the files that pertained to Spencer's tenure at the Academy. He had been passed through things left and right when it came to education things, but he had stuck it out for the physical requirements. There were accolades by the dozen from every single teacher that he had at the Academy. Just like what Aaron had seen about him going through ROTC and everything after in the Navy. He had taken everything about profiling before he had even joined the FBI. Aaron saw that he had even worked on a few of the cold cases that were used to test upcoming profilers. There was no reason for Aaron to turn him down, and Aaron was glad of that because he didn't want to turn him down.

"Where are you staying?" Aaron asked. He wanted to offer his place, but even that would look strange to everyone.

"Dad and I found a house before I joined the Academy."

"Good. That's good."

"Hotch," JJ said.

"JJ, I know what you are going to want to talk about, but that is something that is top secret, and you need to wait to talk to him in person about it." Aaron made sure to glare enough at her that she would back down.

"Top secret?" Garcia asked.

"Yes, during my time at the State Department." JJ was looking at Spencer like she didn't understand at all why he was there.

Aaron had forgotten about that after he had got JJ back on the team as the media liaison. He had wanted to keep her, and it was the only way. He allowed her to take part in more things that were closer to profiling to keep her happy when she didn't need to do her job.

"So, does anyone have any weird questions or things that they can ask the newbie?" Spencer asked. He looked at Aaron with a significant look on his face. Aaron wasn't sure what that was, but he didn't think that he could stay under it for long before getting hard.

The attraction to Spencer hadn't faded over the years, Aaron remembered their time together every single time that he caved to Dave's want for him to go on a date. The only person that had been even close to someone that Aaron wanted, Jack and Rory had hated. That had been right after Aaron had got back from Afghanistan. Rory had really hated her, and Aaron wasn't going to force his kids to have someone around that they didn't like. It was insanely stupid for anyone to do that to a kid. Beth had been fine around the kids at first, and then when Aaron had told her about Rory, she had been different. She didn't play as much with Rory, and then things had gone downhill quickly. The kids had both requested to go to Jessica's when Aaron had Beth over for dinner. Aaron hadn't done that he had canceled dinner telling Beth that he was too tired from his case. Then he had forced the kids to tell him, at least as much as they could, given Rory's age.

Aaron had taken her to lunch the next day and broke things off with her. Rory might not be his biologically, but she was in his in every single way that mattered. Spencer hadn't really made a single comment about how weird it was for Aaron to have adopted his ex-wife's child with another man.

"New members usually stop us from having a case, Reid you are with me this afternoon while we go over things. Dave, can you-"

"Take over the paperwork you've been too busy to do? Yes. I'll take care of that. I'll grab the files from your office and head into mine." Dave didn't look too upset. He was good at taking things over when Aaron needed, but he didn't offer.

"Lunch tomorrow so we can all get to know Reid a little better." Aaron looked at him. "Do you prefer Agent or Doctor?"

"Either or. Really I don't care. I'm old enough that the agent thing shouldn't be an issue, but if it's better in a circumstance, doctor is just fine."

The team filed out with a few glances at Spencer before the door was shut, leaving them alone in the round table room.

"How bad is your PTSD?"

"I was cleared by the VA as well as the team here at the FBI to be allowed into the field. I don't have sound-triggered issues as I was tortured by standard means."

"There was a comment in here that you went to more therapy than needed, yet there is no reason why."

"That would be Dad." Spencer pushed off the wall and moved to sit down in the chair beside Aaron. He wasn't stiff like he had been before that. He was loose-limbed like that night that they had stayed up talking. The only time that they had kissed. After that, Spencer hadn't treated Aaron any differently. There was still the talks, still the sharing of a room. Then one night, when Spencer had been dealing with horrible nightmares, Aaron had coaxed him into the bed, so he didn't fall out of his hammock for a second time.

Aaron had woken up the next morning with Spencer still in his bed. Hours later, Aaron had been pulled back home with the fact that the FBI was unwilling to send the team out anymore with him. He had said his goodbyes to Spencer in private thankfully, so it hadn't been a big thing. Aaron had wanted to kiss him, but Spencer hadn't offered that up at all.

"Hotch," Spencer said.

"Aaron, please, when it's just us, Aaron."

"Sure, Aaron. Shouldn't we be doing something other than you just staring at me?" Spencer's lips were curled in a smirk, and Aaron really wanted to kiss him.

"I was just remembering when I left overseas."

"Ah. Yeah, that sucked. You and your team have been through a lot since you left over there. Once I made it known what I wanted my path to be, I was given access to all of your case files. I've read every single file that this team has done since Gideon left. And most of the files from other teams over the last five years. I'm heading backward on them. It's a lot, but you know how thorough I am."

"Yes. Jack asks about Mister Spencer every once in a while. Usually, after he hears someone mention Navy SEALs. So how do you feel about meeting him and Rory in person?"

"Are we really going to start this now?" Spencer asked.

"Yes. I hated leaving without keeping in contact, but I could tell that you were not in a place for a relationship." Aaron had debated for a long time. Still, even with the threat of DADT gone, Aaron knew that Spencer wasn't where Aaron could realistically start anything with him.

"My goal in life was to never let myself love someone enough to where they could hurt me, Aaron. I wanted to never let myself be hurt like William Reid hurt my mother. Then you fucking came along, and I buried it deep. I didn't even realize it until my life was in shambles at my feet, my leg in a brace, and my hands nearly broken beyond repair."

"Yes, the report on your injuries was a little...dry."

"I can do well with the right motivation," Spencer said.

"You wrote that?" Aaron wanted to say that he was shocked, but Spencer had relayed the most horrible information during

"Yes, the Navy had to approve what could go in there and what couldn't. So I summarized everything that needed to be known about everything that I did. Then it was approved and given to the FBI after I signed up. The Director slotted me into the earliest round at the Academy that he could, which was perfect timing as I was released for full duty just before that. Dad loves to put me in therapy, telling me that nothing in my childhood prior to him helped me form the ability to figure out what I needed to do to cope. I think he just doesn't want me to eat my gun due to everything."

Aaron felt his heart ache a little at that. Spencer was blunt, mostly too blunt, but it wasn't anything that Aaron couldn't deal with. Spencer didn't lie. He told people that he couldn't tell them anything and then he left it at that. Spencer still looked so young that he constantly put people off. Aaron looked at him. He was still dressed in the suit coat he had been wearing when he had entered. He was put together in a way that Aaron had ignored at first but couldn't anymore because it was so far outside of what Aaron had seen him in before.

"I miss your facial hair," Spencer said in the silence of the room.

"Jack hated it." Aaron rubbed at his face, the feel of the soft skin under his hand. He kind of missed the beard a little bit as well. Or at least the fantasies that he was having while wearing it. Seeing the beard burn on Spencer's thighs, hell just seeing Spencer more than what he did when they stripped down at night to sleep. Those fantasies had got him through the last few years.

Having Spencer right here in front of him was bringing up so much, but they were at work. Aaron worked with him now. Aaron was his boss. There wasn't a single person that would ever think that Spencer would cave to Aaron's demands for something that he didn't want. No one who knew Aaron would ever think that he would do it.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Spencer asked.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"You know, I was a little shocked at the arrival of you, Reid. I haven't been that shocked in a long time you don't-" Dave entered the room and sighed as he shut the door. He looked at Aaron and then at Spencer. "Then I was sitting in my office, and I started to replay everything from the moment that Aaron realized exactly who was with Richmond."

"And?" Spencer asked. He turned around to where he was looking at Dave.

"I was around him when he was still wholly in love with Haley before it went downhill. I forgot what he looked like when he was attracted to someone. I don't know you, Reid, and what you look like when you are attracted to someone. You are probably a master at hiding that after at least a decade in the military while attracted to men."

"You are as good as I remember from the various TV spots and book signings I've seen on you. So, Aaron, I put it to you again, how are we going to do this? I want this spot on this team. I want the family you talk about this team is. I've never wanted to keep a relationship, but I do want one now. I'd rather have this team and not the relationship."

"Oh, no. He needs a relationship. I'll take over everything that has to do with actually being the guy above you in the chain of command. I'll do every single bit of paperwork. Yell at you. Whatever it takes as long as this guy gets some fun."

Aaron wanted to laugh at Dave's words, but he knew that Dave meant it. Dave probably hadn't even thought about the age difference, which had been something that had stopped Aaron from showing his interest up until it had dawned on Aaron that in his life, Spencer had seen more death than he had. He had seen and given the order to kill people. He might look like a baby faced kid, despite being a lot older than that, but he was still an officer in the Navy, commanding a SEAL Team. Yeah, Aaron had seen a lot in his tenure in the FBI, a lot of horrible shit after he had started to work in the BAU. Still, he was pretty damned sure that Spencer's kill count was higher than his, even if he was an officer.

"Yeah, that works," Aaron said.

"Good, then you have my blessing to finally get laid this decade."

Aaron watched Spencer's eyebrows creep up his forehead, and he watched as Dave left the room. It was a weird look on him.

"So let's discuss the job, and then tonight at dinner, we can discuss the relationship?" Aaron asked.

"Sounds like a plan. Where are we eating?"

"My house." Aaron tapped at his phone before he frowned and realized that he didn't have Spencer's numbers at all. He held out his phone, and Spencer took it, adding in his cell phone. Then he did something else.

When Aaron got his phone back, he saw that Spencer had added in his work number as well. Aaron texted Spencer his address. Then he group texted the rest of the team on their work cell with Spencer's number added into it.

"Seven?" Aaron asked.

"Sure. I'll text dad not to make dinner for me."

"Is he still doing the cooking?"

"Most of the time. He likes it, so I don't see a reason to. He likes me living with him, so I don't see a reason to move out at the moment either. I pay for the Internet because I use it more. And Netflix."

"Hey, you talked about it before. It's not like you need to justify your life."

"Yeah, that was when I was on a SEAL Team, though."

"Believe me, with how much you will be traveling with us, no one is going to say a damned thing about you living with your father."

* * *

Spencer put the Jeep into park in front of Aaron's house. It was late enough that Jessica wasn't there, or if she was, her car wasn't but not so late that it's looking dark at all outside. Spencer had all of the stuff off his Jeep, just like his Dad used to do in California near year-round. Spencer wasn't looking forward to winter, but at least he knew what to expect in winter there. He had perfectly good winter tires to put onto his Jeep.

"Wow, that's a cool car," a girl said.

Spencer looked around to see Rory standing on the other side of the sidewalk with a look of curiosity on her face.

"Rory, you are not supposed to talk to strangers," Spencer said with a smile curling his lips. Rory looked surprised and then for a few seconds scared. She took off running toward the house, screaming her lungs out for her father. The door to the house opened up, and it was a shock that Aaron didn't step out with a gun in his hand.

"He told me not to talk to strangers, but he said my name. How does he know me, Daddy?"

"Mister Spencer!" Jack yelled before he took off running across the yard, where he appeared from the backyard. He climbed right up into Spencer's Jeep and nearly threw himself onto Spencer's lap as well as he could for a hug. Spencer hugged him back for lack of anything better to do with the boy hanging on him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, your dad invited me to dinner."

"Really? Dad said he doesn't work with you anymore. That you are Navy and he's FBI, and you live hours and hours away from here, and that's why you were never able to come to dinner so we could thank you for taking care of him while he was overplaying in the sand."

Spencer looked at Aaron, who was stopped at the edge of the Jeep with Rory in his arms.

"Sorry, I scared you, Rory-bug."

"It's okay, Mister Spencer."

"I'm hoping that teaches her not to talk to strangers."

"Can we go for a ride?" Jack asked. He was looking at Spencer.

"Ask your father, not me."

"If Mister Spencer is okay with it, you guys can go for a ride after dinner. We can get Rory's car seat out of the car, and she can ride in the back with me."

"I get to ride in the front?" Jack asked.

"Sure."

Jack hugged Spencer again at his dad's words and then climbed out of the Jeep.

"Let's go finish up Legos in the back, Rory." Jack waited for Aaron to settle Rory down, and then he snagged her arm and dragged her into the backyard with him. Rory kept on looking back at Spencer.

While Spencer was watching her, Aaron slipped into the front seat of the Jeep. "You don't exactly lack funds, do you?"

"Huh?" Spencer asked. He looked at where the top end radio was in the dashboard console. "Yeah, no. Dad bought this for me when I hit Lieutenant Commander, and he made sure I had high end everything in it. I'm sure that there are features I have forgotten about that this thing has."

"With your memory? I doubt it. Wine with dinner?" Aaron asked.

"Wine?"

"I laid out a bottle. It goes with dinner. I have a guest room. There is no subterfuge here. If you are too drunk to go home, I have a spare bed. If you would rather be in my bed, we can discuss that before we drink a single drop of wine. I can put you in a cab tonight, or your father can come and get you. There are a lot of options, and I am sure you have thought of more."

"I have a few other things in mind just in case. Wine is fine, and it won't get me too tipsy to drive at all. Especially if we talk after dinner. So why don't we go inside and you stuff me full of good food, and then I'll see if this dating Aaron Hotchner is all that I made it up to be in my head."

"I've wanted this for a while Spencer I just...I knew that it wasn't going to work with our jobs."

"Same." Spencer looked at where Aaron's hand was on his thigh, and he covered it. He waited for a second and then threaded his fingers through Aaron's. "I meant what I said. I didn't ever want a relationship, but you, I wanted. I think that you were what kept me sane after that and then when I was faced with the end of my career."

Spencer lifted up Aaron's hand, and he felt the way that Aaron tightened it. They were both too invested in this already, and it was insane and stupid.

"I haven't been sexually attracted to someone as quickly as I have you. Though it wasn't until after the whole dressing down, you gave me that I started to really pay attention to more than just the look of your body." Aaron smiled at him. "I'm hesitant of everything. My wife left me because of my job, and she cheated on me for at least six months before she even told me. The day that she told me that Rory wasn't mine, I was gutted. I wanted Jack for so long, and then she got pregnant again, and we weren't even trying. I was so damned happy. The tests were done after she gave birth, and the father tracked down. He wanted nothing to do with Haley at all, and he never wanted a kid at all, especially with a woman who cheated on her husband while screwing him."

"Hey, we've been through this. You don't need to go through it again."

"There's a purpose." Aaron turned his hand a little, drawing Spencer's over to his. Aaron kissed Spencer's proximal phalanx of his middle finger. "I dated a woman named Beth, and she was happy with everything, the job, the kids. She was perfect for me and then I told her about Rory. I told her everything. She treated Rory like crap after that, and Rory started to hate her. Then Jack. I couldn't. Not with her. I didn't want her around either one of them. You told me later on that you thought I was one of the most honorable men you had ever known for taking in Rory."

"Yeah." Spencer felt his gut clenching at Aaron's words. He had said them. He had meant them then, and he meant them now. "I had a long discussion with myself about how much that made me look at you. My father didn't have to take me in, just like you did. I remember a bit of psychology about marrying your parents. I never thought it true at all. Then I really looked at you. You are honorable, kind, loving. You protect your team. I don't want to work for anyone else, I don't want to be with anyone else."

"You are going to give me a bloated head." Aaron laughed and kissed Spencer's hand again. An alarm went off on Aaron's phone that was in a pocket. He pulled it out and looked at it. "Better head inside. That's the alarm for food. So, come on inside. I promise that I will ignore any looking around that you do."

"I live with you for five months. I'll not look in your cupboards, I promise. Whatever I see in plain sight, though, is fair game."

Aaron laughed and slipped out of the Jeep, letting go of Spencer's hand at the last possible second. Spencer's heart had already given itself over to Aaron, but that there made him fall in love just a little more.

The front door was open, and Spencer walked inside. He set his car keys down on the table that was inside the door. There was a dish where he saw Aaron's keys as well as his wallet and credentials. The house was spotless. Well, as spotless as Spencer would consider a house with two kids in it. There were toys around, but they were contained in the living room, two different toy chests, and a rug that held toys that had obviously been played with before the kids went outside.

Spencer made his way to the kitchen, where Aaron was just finishing pouring wine into a glass. There was another bottle in the ice bucket, and Spencer walked over to look at it. It was sparkling grape juice, and there were two very small wine glasses on the counter for the kids.

"So I know nothing about kids," Spencer said, and he waited for Aaron to look at him before he stepped closer.

"Well, they are pretty easy, really, Spencer. Surely you remember something about childhood that will help."

Spencer knows that he hadn't gone that deep into his childhood during their nightly talks in Afghanistan. This wasn't Aaron making a poke at him.

"When I was a kid, I played with things that exploded in the science lab at mom's college and read. Little league sucks, and no kid liked me."

"Oh." Aaron turned away from the stove where he was stirring a sauce of some kind before he checked something in the oven.

The smell of spice hit his nose. Spencer stepped to where he could look inside. It looked like a taco bake of some kind. The sauce on the stove was strange until Spencer got a good sniff of it. Chocolate.

"Want to grab the glass pan out of the fridge?" Aaron asked, pointing with his elbow.

"Sure." Spencer walked to the fridge and opened it up to see that it was a dessert of some kind. He peeled off the tin foil and slipped it beside where Aaron was at the stove. Spencer saw that the flame was barely under the chocolate anymore. Aaron lifted the pan out of what he saw now was a double boiler. The chocolate was poured over the dessert, and then Aaron spread it out with a spatula. It spread like thick chocolate and then started to harden even before it was put into the fridge again.

"That should be set up once we get back from the Jeep ride."

"You don't have to do that, you know. I'm sure that they will be fine with a longer one at a later time," Spencer offered.

"It's fine. They will enjoy it, and it will be fine. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried. I just don't want to rouse them up before bed."

"They don't have school tomorrow. It's parent-teacher conferences. I have the first one of the day, and then I'll be heading into work. If a case comes up, Jessica will go to it. We've got this down now."

"And how does Jessica feel about you dating?"

"You really want to discuss the hard things, don't you?"

"There is no sense in hiding from it. It's not like it's going to go away, and I deserve the right to know how she is going to treat me."

Aaron picked up his wine glass and then picked up Spencer's and handed it over. Spencer took a sip, it was a sweet wine but not overly sweet.

"Let's go outside before Rory escapes the backyard again, and we can discuss this."

"Sure." Spencer followed Aaron out into the backyard, and he saw that Rory was chasing after Jack, who had a toy in his hand. They weren't being too aggressive with each other. There was a picnic table under the awning made by what Aaron assumed was an upper deck that came off of a bedroom on the second floor. He figured that when the kids were cleaning up or after dinner, Spencer would get the tour.

"Jessica is..." Aaron sighed, and he looked at the two kids. They were both settled down and doing something else now. Spencer couldn't tell what it was. "Jessica loves me as her brother, but after the whole thing of Haley cheating on me and carrying another man's child while still married to me. After finding out that Haley wasn't going to tell me and if I did what she wanted, she never would have, Jessica kind of stopped liking her sister. She loved her, but she didn't like her. It's caused a rift with her and her father that I hate, but I can't make the decision for her."

"You said her father fought for custody of Rory."

"And Jack, but the courts ruled on my side for Jack. They agreed that the trauma to Jack was more than he needed, given his age and how he lost his mother. Taking him from his only remaining parent was not something that they felt they could side with. Then Rory. Even the psychologist that Roy chose had to end up siding with me on that one even if he thought that me staying in my job might do harm. Then Jack took the stand, they wanted his opinion on what he thought of my job. I was in tears when Jack was done telling the judge how I was his hero and that nobody beats daddy."

"Has he tried for custody again?"

"Yes. He did, and that's when it was found that he has the start of dementia and is therefore not able to care for the kids at all. Jessica had to put him into a home for it. He was getting worse, his violent outbursts were horrible, and Jack refused to go back and see him after his last one before he was put into the home."

The oven timer went off, and Spencer saw the kid's perk up and come running. Jack helped his sister into the bathroom in the hall and made sure that she washed her hands, and then he did. They were good kids, wonderful, and Spencer could see that Jack loved his sister a great deal.

Spencer watched as Aaron served the kids first, giving the food time to cool before they were able to eat it.

"Food?" Aaron asked, pulling Spencer out of his thoughts about the family that he was smack in the middle of.

"Yeah. Sorry."

"Don't be."

"So, Mister Spencer, what do you do now?" Jack asked when they were all seated around the table.

Spencer saw that Rory kept on looking at Spencer with a very wary eye. Spencer tried to ignore it.

"Well, Jack, as of today, I work for the FBI. I actually work on your Dad's team."

"What?" Jack looked excited. "That's so cool. Now you get to be superheroes together again!"

"What?" Spencer asked. He reached out for the bowl with the steamed and seasoned broccoli and spooned out some more onto his plate. He really liked it, and he could taste that Aaron didn't put salt into it. There was more than enough salt in the taco bake. It was good, but Spencer could see the need for the balance in the meal.

"You and dad used to work together, and you were both heroes, and then you worked apart, but both of you still doing hero things. Now though you get to be the dynamic duo again."

"I still have not been able to narrow down who is Batman and who is Robin that scenario, even four years later," Aaron said.

"You are always Batman, I'm very much the Boy Wonder."

Aaron laughed at Spencer's words, it made his cheeks turn up in a smile, and it changed how he looked. It was the same guy that Spencer had fallen for when he had been talking about his kids late at night. Jack chattered on about everything he had done at school lately, and even Rory opened up with the stuff that she was studying that she liked.

"When are we doing dessert, Daddy?" Rory asked.

"After we go for a ride in Spencer's Jeep.

"Can I sit behind you, Daddy?" Rory asked.

"Sure, cupcake." Aaron smiled at her and lifted her up to hold her.

Spencer figured that he was getting in all that he could, given that it wouldn't be long before she didn't want affection like that. Joe had come in late in that, but Spencer had wanted cuddles as much as anything else in the world from him because once it had started, he didn't want it to stop.

Aaron walked to the sink to set all of the dishes down into the water that couldn't be warm anymore. "Let's go, and then I'll do dishes after dessert."

"I'll help," Spencer said.

"You don't have to, but thank you."

It was the work of minutes to get the booster seat for Rory, who was still just a little too short to not be in a booster seat. She was eight, though. Still, given that Aaron had nearly lost Jack and her at the same time as Haley, Spencer could understand him being wary about her safety in any way. Jack chose to stay in the back with Rory so that she wasn't scared.

"This is weird," Jack said for the fourth time since Spencer had strapped him into the webbing harness in the back.

"You see the way that this isn't fully surrounded like a normal car?" Spencer asked as he plucked at the harness.

"Yeah."

"Well, this makes sure that you aren't going to go flying out of the Jeep even if it rolls. There are no hard bits and windows to keep you in, so this does that job. Dad always had these in his, so when he bought this for me, he got the same kind. I like it. I hate the feeling of the normal seat belts after years in the military."

"Was it hard?"

"What?" Spencer asked, looking at Rory, who had clammed up the moment they had gotten outside.

"Being away from home like that. Daddy hates it, and he's gone just a few days normally. Daddy said, you were gone up to six months sometimes."

"Yeah, but I was with my other family." Spencer wasn't sure what kind of answer was the best there.

"Just like when Daddy goes with the team. You guys know I'm not alone because my team family is there. You guys don't worry about me as much. It's just like that."

"Oh," Rory said.

"And now you will have each other."

The Jeep started with a rumble, and Spencer eased them out of the parking spot and onto the road. He knew that the kids wanted something fun, so he turned toward the highway. A short hop around the outer area with the wind blowing around them in a way that no other vehicle could produce was precisely what they needed.

Rory whooped and hollered while Jack just waved his hands in the air as Spencer revved up the engine to the speed that would allow them the most fun.

"There are some areas that are set up for mud fun around here. How do you feel about that sometime? Getting muddy and having a lot of fun?" Spencer asked as he parked the Jeep back in the same spot that

"Sure," Aaron said as he unhooked himself. He walked behind to undo Rory.

"No, I want Spencer to," Rory pouted.

Spencer unhooked Jack from his harness and then walked around the Jeep to slide in and do the same for Rory. Before Spencer could get out, she wrapped her arms around Spencer and latched on for dear life. Spencer carried her into the house with Aaron behind him and Jack in front of him.

"So, dessert?" Aaron asked as he looked at Rory. Despite the whole thing of the ride in the Jeep making her hyper, it seemed she was crashing now.

"Yeah." Spencer walked into the kitchen behind Aaron, expecting Rory to slip out of his lap as soon as he sat down, but she just stayed in his lap.

Aaron cut the dessert. He dished out three pieces before cutting the third into halves and slipping one of the slices onto a different plate. Aaron laid that one in front of Spencer, followed by one of the bigger ones. Forks were next, handed out by Jack.

"Thanks, Jack."

"You are very welcome, Mister Spencer. I wanted to ask a question."

"Yes?"

"I heard Dad talking to Uncle Dave the other day, and I heard that someone had beat out a few of dad's scores at the range at the Academy. Do you know who it was?"

"I need to remember that little pitchers have big ears when I talk to Dave on the phone in my office," Aaron said. he was glaring a little at Jack.

"What? You like having your records."

"Well, Jack, as a matter of fact, I do know who it was, but they have an unfair advantage over your father when it comes to that stuff."

"Why?" Rory asked. She had only a few bites of dessert gone, leaning up to snag a bite. She leaned back onto Spencer and kind of curled into a ball there.

Spencer looked up at Aaron. Aaron just gave him a smile. There was something deep in Aaron's eyes though that was a little wild. Spencer wasn't sure that he was ready to see find out what that look meant.

"Well, it was me that beat it, and while as class rankings go in the Academy, the overall best scores aren't divided into those who have a military background, cop, or civilian. So that meant that when it was all said and done, I had beat your father's scores on three things."

"So, you knew?" Aaron asked. There was mirth dancing in his eyes as he said it.

"Afterwards, yes. It did make me laugh a little. Though it also reminded of our blowing off steam in the wilds of where we were."

The conversation turned to something a little more mundane, and Rory fell asleep before eating even half of her dessert. It was something that stuck Spencer as weird, Rory taking to him like she did. He made a mental note to ask Aaron about it.

Aaron hustled the kids up to the bed, and Spencer settled on the couch to watch the TV a little. It was on something that was soothing.

"Rory has never taken to someone like that," Aaron said as he stepped off of the stairs.

"I mean, she's got to remember me a little. She talked to me for two hours that one time in near gibberish when you were asleep beside me on the bed."

"Please don't remind me about that, please." Aaron dropped onto the other end of the couch, facing Spencer.

"Why? It was adorable. Jack said you had never looked cuter, and they were both entertained, and then I read them a bedtime story because we all should have been asleep long before that. It was nice. So while she might not remember me all of the way, she does remember that night and the feeling of me reading her to sleep."

Aaron doesn't say anything, but he did lean up, and Spencer watched him as he moved.

"What-" Spencer cut off when Aaron kissed him. Aaron went right for hot and heavy, and Spencer didn't even mind at all. He didn't mind when Aaron manhandled him down on the couch to where he is propped up above him, and it became a proper making out session on the couch. Spencer could feel the curl of arousal in his blood and how he became partially hard against Aaron's hip. It's too damned good already, and Spencer wanted to hate it.

Spencer has wanted this, the feel of Aaron pushing him down into a soft, or hard, surface for months now. He has desired it and fantasized about it. It felt wrong, though. Spencer pushed at Aaron's shoulder, and he moved back easily to look down at Spencer. There was nothing in his face, no anger, just inquisitiveness.

"I'm not saying no forever, just-" Spencer swallowed and reached up to cup the side of Aaron's face. "Just a no for hot and heavy now."

"Whatever pace you want, Spencer." Aaron didn't push up and away though, he just hovered there before he dipped down for a slower, more gentle kiss. "We do have work tomorrow, and I think that this would be better in a bed where I can take my time."

"Just keep that thought warm, Aaron. We will get back to that at a later point."

"Sounds good." Aaron rubbed his nose on Spencer's, and that felt good, that and the warmth that was filling up his chest. He could get used to this way too fast. He really could, and that thought didn't scare him the way that it used to.


	16. Chapter 16

## Chapter 16

### September 2016

The soccer fields were full of kids running everywhere. Spencer was getting a lot of looks because he hadn't settled anywhere yet. Jack's game was first, and Aaron was busy helping to coach the team, so Spencer didn't want to distract him at all. He still stayed in Aaron's eyesight, but so far, he had not actually moved over to talk to the man. Rory was sitting on the ground reading. Spencer knew that she liked to play soccer, but it seemed that she didn't like to watch it.

There was an itch in the center of Spencer's shoulder blades, and it was enough that he wasn't sure what was causing it. When he had been in the Navy, it meant that there was something that he knew was going to go sideways on an operation. The last case had been a near cakewalk, as much as a case could be a cakewalk. The familiar weight of his shoulder holster, as well as his ankle strap, was the only thing that was stopping Spencer from pacing back and forth.

"Mister Spencer!" Jack called out as he came running over and stooped in front of him at the sideline.

"Hi, Jackers. Should you be over here?"

"We are on a break while the refs get a drink real quick." Jack pointed out where the dads and moms who were acting as refs were getting drinks from the large Gatorade cooler that was at the other sideline. "We are allowed to talk to our parents until Dad calls us back. I told Dad I was going to talk to you. Rory hasn't noticed you are here yet, so be prepared for that."

"Go back over, I think your dad is getting ready to yell." Spencer looked at Aaron, and even across the field, Spencer could tell that he was looking at them. That look that he was getting from Aaron was something that he was very unsure of. He didn't want to call Aaron a caveman, but it was very primal, and Spencer wasn't sure that he could ignore it all that much longer.

Spencer watched Jack run back across the field and to where the rest of his team was around. Aaron called for the kids to come back, and then they were huddling to talk about what was going to happen next. Spencer scanned the crowd, and he saw a man who was watching the team closely from the corner opposite where Aaron was. Spencer walked to the middle of the field behind one of the goals, and so he could watch the man closer. He was watching the kids, but his eyes were also on Aaron. He was wearing a hat and a pair of sunglasses.

The feeling of his skin itching was getting worse. Spencer slipped his hand inside of his jacket that he had to test the weight of the gun that was there. He needed to touch it to make sure that he knew that it was there. He hadn't felt like this before today in the FBI. He really just wanted to stalk around the field, but it wouldn't be good to attract attention to himself.

The man raised his sunglasses up, and there was something about his face. Spencer turned away from the field and walked around to the one that was opposite. He worked his way around to where he could come up closer to the man he crossed his arms and let one of his hands drape on the handle of his gun, ready to draw it when it was needed. The man lifted his sunglasses again, and he knew without a doubt who the hell that was and Spencer wasn't going to let him get away.

"Peter Lewis, get on your knees with your hands on your head." Spencer drew his gun as he spoke.

"Oh, shit, GUN!" someone else yelled. The people around them started to run, and thankfully it was the ones closest to them that left first, and no one moved between them.

"FBI, Lewis, and if you even make a single move to grab someone, you will have a bullet lodged in your head." Spencer didn't take his eyes off of Lewis. The man was looking at him with a strange look on his face. There was a spark of fear, and then something else crossed his face.

"Doctor Reid, you know that you aren't going to shoot me," Lewis said, and he took a step back.

Spencer slotted the safety off on his gun and darted his eyes around the area to make sure that everyone had cleared. He heard the sound of someone running up behind him.

"Reid?" Aaron asked.

"Are we clear?" Spencer asked.

"Yes." Aaron crouched down, and Spencer felt his going for the secondary gun that Spencer had on his ankle. Spencer wasn't shocked that Aaron knew about that even if he hadn't ever told him. A gun hand knew gun hand.

"Surrender, Lewis, and you won't have a bullet lodged in you."

"You are an academic, Doctor Reid."

"Is that what your files have told you? That I'm an academic? Not the years I spent in the Navy and the rating I hold for sharpshooting in the SEALs as an officer."

Lewis looked at the two of them and started to spin around. He was going to run, and Spencer wasn't going to allow that. He had been here watching Jack play soccer. He had not been all that secretive about doing it either. He wanted Aaron to see him at some point. Maybe not that day but sometime soon. He wanted to be seen. He wanted to scare him, and that wasn't something that Spencer could allow to happen.

Spencer looked to see that the entire area around them was clear, and then he fired. Lewis took a step and then fell down. Spencer saw the spray of blood from the bullet that lodged into his brain.

"Fuck," Aaron said before he walked forward. His gun was trained on Lewis even though Spencer knew that he knew that Lewis was dead. Aaron crouched at Lewis was Spencer came over to cover him. Aaron's hand touched the pulse point on Lewis' neck. "Dead."

"I'll call it in." Spencer flicked the safety back on his gun and holstered it. It would be taken and checked until the shooting was declared clean. The man was on the FBI's most-wanted list, and he was listed as dangerous. Spencer had declared himself, and Lewis had started to flee. While it might have been enough to wound him, Spencer knew that prison probably wasn't going to be able to hold him. This was the second sick fuck that had escaped and targeted Aaron through his family, Spencer really didn't care that he was dead. It was a threat that was done.

Spencer looked at his hands, they weren't even shaking. He turned to see that the kids on Jack's team were all huddled around the area where Aaron had been. Jack and Rory were standing at the front of the group, and Jack looked like he was ready to take off running toward them.

"You had better go to Jack, or he's going to run across the field."

Aaron turned then, still hunched over the body, and looked at Jack.

"Yeah. I'll go. You keep the body in sight."

"Yes, Sir."

The look that Spencer got for that told Spencer that he was going to pay for that later. He didn't really feel anything about it. Spencer called in the death of Lewis with the Fugitive Retrieval Squad and then called Mateo Cruz about it as well. Spencer would have to have his statement taken as well as his hands tested and his gun as well. It wasn't like anyone was going to say that Spencer didn't shoot him, but he wanted this damned thing airtight.

Spencer dialed his dad when he was done telling everyone who needed to be told.

"I didn't think you would get bored with kid's soccer that quick," Joe said.

Spencer could see the look that he had on his face as he said that as well.

"Well, I would gladly say that I am bored as hell. That went out of the window when I saw a wanted fugitive that the BAU caught once, and then he escaped from prison and hadn't been found stalking Jack at his soccer game."

"So, it's going to be a late-night?"

"Not that late. I mean, he's dead."

"How?"

"I put a bullet in his head when he tried to flee."

"Fucking hell, Spencer."

"He was stalking a child, Dad. I wasn't going to let him get away again. The last time that one of the damned people the BAU caught got out, he killed Aaron's ex-wife with his two children in the house, aiming at killing them next and then probably leaving Aaron alive to make him live with it. I was not going to let him go."

"Watch your mouth around the guys taking your statement, Spencer."

"I doubt they are going to have a single issue with it."

Spencer heard the sirens and wondered who from the FBI was coming to secure the scene. Spencer looked around to see that Aaron was working on calming down the parents that were around. There were small pockets everywhere of people who were looking at him in shock.

The man who was walking toward Spencer from the first SUV to land in the area had Spencer wondering exactly how much the man wanted to just hug the shit out of him. He was smiling.

"Agent Reid?" the man asked as he stopped in front of Lewis's body and looked down at it. "That's a sight that I am glad to see."

"Yes, same. Who are you?"

"Agent Booth. I am not normally the one to do this, but I was in the area, and so I was tasked with it."

"Where is your partner?" Spencer asked. He tried to remember where he had seen the name Booth in relation to the FBI and couldn't place it at the moment.

"My partner is a little unorthodox, and this body has too much flesh on it for it to be something that she works with.

"Ah, Tempe Brennan. That's where I know your name from."

"Who fired the shot you or Hotch?"

"I did."

Booth looked Spencer up and down. "I was given your name as Doctor Spencer Reid. Been with the FBI for a month, and you killed him with a headshot?"

"Rangers right, a sniper?"

"Yes. So you know my jacket?" Booth stood up from where he had been looking at the body.

"No. I know your type. Snipers know snipers. Retired Captain, Agent Booth."

"Service?"

"Navy SEALs."

Spencer knew that look on Booth's face. He really didn't believe him, and then he looked down at the body again, and he gave a little laugh. "Well, I guess the proof is in the shot." Booth stood up and held out his hand to point at the body.

Spencer shook it as Aaron came up to them.

"Hey, Hotch. A little excitement that you didn't want, huh?" Booth asked.

"It could have been worse. I didn't even notice him at all. I meant I saw a lot of parents around, and single parents on their own weren't an issue. I scan the crowd around Jack's field. I recognize him from being around here before. I just never connected him with Lewis. I mean, he was always wearing sunglasses and a hat, but-" Aaron waved his hand at the collection of people that were now starting to talk to the arriving FBI agents and local cops.

Spencer looked around and a good half of the men there were wearing sunglasses and a hat, most of the others were wearing at least one of the items. It would be hard to pick out someone who was wearing the items to hide versus wanting them for the bright sun. Spencer agreed that it was not anything that drew him out to Aaron's eyes.

"How did you notice him?" Booth asked. He was making notes on a notepad, but there was also a recording device clipped to his suit jacket pocket.

"I'm still in therapy for PTSD. My situational awareness is high, but not so high that I'm a threat in the field. I've been cleared by several doctors to be allowed here, for my safety of mind more than the FBI doing it. So I watch faces, and there was something about the way that I noticed him watching Aaron. I thought maybe he might be an upset father at first, but then I realized that the only kid that he was watching was Jack. He would sometimes glance at Rory, but that was it. I just felt wrong, so I snuck around him, and then he took his glasses off at one point, and I knew that face."

"How? You are new. How did you know that face?"

"I have spent time learning the faces and as much as I can the movements of every single escapee who hasn't been caught yet as well a the faces of every single person that the BAU has caught in its history and has been released from prison for serving their sentence."

"Why?"

"I don't do well with threats that exist in the world that I know I can keep an eye out for. That was before my PTSD ever manifested as well. I didn't do well with threats against my team ever."

"So, you confronted him?"

"I drew my gun, called him out, identified myself, and warned him not to run. He stayed still until Hotch got close and drew my backup weapon." Spencer shook his foot, where the pants leg was not draped over the holster as neat as it had been when Spencer had put it on. "He told me that I wasn't going to shoot him that I was an academic. I broke him of his thoughts and told him exactly who I was. He turned to run, I shot him. He was warned of what running would make me do."

"Headshot?"

"He's a devious fucker, and the only way to make sure he wasn't grabbing something to trigger was to make sure that brain function stopped. I've been studying him all month the profiles built on him, what he had done to Hotch this past spring that included getting him being SWATed by the people he should trust. It was a scare tactic, whatever Lewis did to get him taken from his home with his children present when he was on his way into work. It would have been much easier to get him at the checkpoint into Quantico. There were a lot of other places to take him other than his home where if he were what they all thought he would be, it is the worst place to take him. He could have had a bomb set up to go off. He could have had a lot of other things set to happen."

"Well, Reid, why don't you tell us how you really feel," Booth said, but his face wasn't mocking Spencer. He looked pissed off.

"I've already written up the report, and it's gone up the chain, skipping Hotch because well, he can't exactly write off on it, can he?"

"Reid?" Aaron asked. He looked a little gutted but not horribly. Just shocked as hell, and he didn't look like he knew how to process it.

"It was something that the Director wanted my opinion on. He's not exactly sure that it was all above board in a few instances. I mean, there was no camera to show that it was even you that actually rented the storage space, your prints were not there on anything. It was all circumstantial as hell, but yet no one questioned the rantings of a lunatic that had done everything that he had done. It was shoddy at best, and I would have refused to take part in it if I had been a part of it. So the Director wanted an outside opinion that he trusted. While I was friendly with you, there was also the fact that my after-action reports during my years in the Navy were some of the most unbiased reports that my superiors had seen. It's not that hard to work on it as needed between cases, I mean I am not strained at all on anything. I do well at keeping myself entertained by reading older case files from other teams and even looking at some of the stuff that the IRT is doing. I'm already on tap with Monty to have him send me writings if they don't have someone who can read it on the team."

"How many languages do you speak?" Booth asked.

"Nearly every language that is spoken by anyone that my team had come in contact with as well as every form of sign language that I can get my hands on a manual for. I learned those while at the Academy, given my hearing loss and that it wouldn't take much at all to make it more permanent."

Booth looked at Aaron and frowned. "Your squint is like all of my squints rolled into one."

"We do like them smart on the BAU."

"Anything else?" Spencer asked. He offered up his gun, and Booth opened up an evidence bag for him to slot it down it.

"No. I'm sure you can type up a-"

"Short," Aaron interjected.

"-short report to go with this." Booth looked at Aaron with a frown.

"I've not got a case report under seventeen pages yet, Seeley. Seventeen."

"Yeah, short. Go." Booth nodded his head toward where the crowds were.

Spencer made a beeline for where Jack and Rory were standing with a woman. As soon as Rory figured out that he was heading for them, she broke free of Jack's hold and came running at Spencer. Spencer crouched to catch her as she made a flying leap at him. Spencer stood up with her in his arms, and then there was Jack crashing into him. Spencer hiked Rory up to where he could slip an arm under her butt and then used his now free hand to ruffle Jack's hair.

"What's going on?" the woman who had been with Jack and Rory demanded.

"A wanted fugitive was stalking someone here. He decided that he didn't want to be taken in alive and tried to run."

"Who are you?" the woman demanded next.

"Agent Spencer Reid, FBI. I was here to watch Jack and Rory."

"I've never seen you here before."

"Yes, Ma'am. I was in the military until recently. I worked with Aaron for a time and grew close to the kids. I figured that I was in the area, it was time to come to a game."

"So, it's safe?"

"Yes. You'll need to talk to someone about what you saw, and they will take your name and such, but it's totally safe here right now."

Spencer walked over to sit down on the bench. He adjusted Rory in his lap and then wrapped an arm around Jack when he plopped down beside him. It would be a while until they were able to leave.

"I don't like bad men," Rory said finally.

"Neither do I. He's gone, though. He's not going to hurt you."

"Like George?" Jack asked

Spencer's mind blanked for a few seconds on who the hell George was until he clicked George with Foyet and the man who had killed Haley while the kids had listened.

"Yeah, he's gone like George."

"Was he here for us?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. He didn't talk about that before he tried to run."

"It's stupid to run from cops. That gets you hurt and just makes the cops really, really mad. Dad always says that when he sees someone running from the cops. It's better to just let them do what they came to do, and usually, it's better for you if you don't run."

"You got that right," Aaron said as he stepped up to them. "Booth said we can go home, and he'll come by to get our final statement later. He thinks it would be better if the kids were away from this before too much gets them worked up." Aaron crouched and slipped Spencer's back up into the ankle holster and fixed his pants leg.

"I'm riding with Spencer," Rory demanded.

"Well, I left Booth my keys, so I thought we could all go. Once my stuff is checked over, and they make sure that Lewis didn't do anything to it, someone will drop off my SUV at home. Spencer's Jeep is safe, and I can't take chances with the two of you."

"Because you love us."

"Yeah." Aaron looked over at the place where all of the parent vehicles were parked. "One of the agents is checking over the booster seat real quick, and then we can go."

"Or we can just go. I bought one, and it's in the back seat of the Jeep," Spencer said.

"What?" Aaron asked.

"It makes no sense since we've transferred yours back and forth so many times. I just went out and got the exact same one that you have but in purple for the pretty princess." Spencer shook his body a little, and Rory giggled. She was trembling a little, the fear of the last while finally coming down on her and making her shake. Spencer stood up and waited for Aaron to pick up Jack. Jack clung to his dad like the world was ending, and Spencer hated that.

Aaron sat in the back of the Jeep with Jack on one side and Rory on the other. Spencer kept his eyes on them as much as he dared. He would have to head home to give them time to themselves. This was the time for family, not whatever he and Aaron were. They hadn't given it a name other than dating, which Spencer was all for. Boyfriends seemed too low caste for what he felt for Aaron. Lovers wasn't a good term as they had not done more than kiss. Partner was too strong for what they were. There wasn't anything more than friend that Spencer felt like he could call Aaron.

The drive felt like it took years. Spencer looked at the house and sighed as he parked in front of it. He still didn't park in the driveway even though there was room for him in the space. He didn't feel like it was something that he should do until Aaron asked him to.

"Here." Aaron leaned forward and handed Spencer his keys.

Spencer noticed that the key for the SUV was gone.

"Want me to clear the house?" Spencer asked.

"Yes. Please."

They were all shaken.

Spencer took his time, not just making sure that no one was in there but also that nothing was out of place. Aaron was a straightforward guy, toys were one thing, but the house was damned neat for a guy who didn't spend much time at home. Spencer knew that a lady came over and cleaned the house for two hours each day of the week except for Monday, where she spent as much time as needed. The kitchen was Aaron's area, and he didn't let it get dirty at all. Laundry was done when needed and by Aaron or Jessica. It was a shipshape house that reminded Spencer so much of Joe's when he was growing up.

The house wasn't bothered at all. There was no evidence of anything outside, but Spencer hoped that Aaron allowed a team to check it over when the kids were not home. Lewis was a master of technology. He could have all kinds of things on the network, and Aaron would never know. Spencer planned to do a dive on Aaron's network to make sure that nothing was piggybacking off of it. He had a good idea of a few other things to check as well, but those were paranoid. He just wouldn't mention them at first.

"Stay," Aaron said when he settled Rory onto the couch after she finally passed out on Spencer after an hour of being home. Jack was sitting in a chair in the corner reading. Aaron had explained everything in full detail to the kids. "You have a go-bag in your back. Bring it in and stay the night. I need...I need to know that you are safe."

"Sure," Spencer said. He leaned over and kissed Aaron's forehead as he walked to get his bag. Aaron pulled him into a kiss on the lips. Spencer looked at Jack when he pulled back, but the boy was still engrossed in his book. "Dinner?"

"I was going to order in. I don't think I have the attention span for cooking. I was thinking of Thai or Chinese."

"Thai," Spencer offered as a way to break the decision for Aaron.

"Sure. Same thing you got two cases ago?"

"Scallops though instead of chicken. I trust places here at home more than I do sketchy places in cities we don't know."

"Sure, thing."

Spencer slipped out of the house easily, finding the bag that Aaron was talking about. It wasn't locked down, but then it only had clothes. It was a spare bag in case he was out somewhere when the call came in. He had more at the office, but he knew from Aaron that the calls didn't always come when one had time to get to the office to grab the bag before getting on the jet. It paid to be ready. Spencer grabbed his identification and everything that was locked in the glove box out. It was a lot more secure than the standard glove box and wouldn't be broken into easily. Spencer snagged his primary backup from there, checking the clip before slipping it into his holster. It wasn't an FBI issue gun, so Spencer couldn't take it on cases, he would have to use his ankle holster one until such a time as he was released from the shooting.

"That didn't take long," Aaron said as he looked up from where he was reading a book when Spencer entered the living room with his bag in hand.

"No. Where can I store my guns?"

Aaron's eyebrows raised at guns, but he pointed at the safe that was in the living room. He called out the code before Spencer even got over to it. The ankle holster was first and then the shoulder before Spencer unhooked each of the holsters from his body and laid them on top. He turned around as he slipped his jacket back on.

"You don't have to put that back on unless you are cold. I know I keep it cool in here."

"No, I'm fine. I just-" Spencer shrugged. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do here. He took the jacket off and laid it over the back of the chair before he dropped down into it. He looked at Aaron. "I am unsure of what to do here."

"You don't need to do anything. Rory will wake up, and we will eat dinner, and then we will all go to bed. I'll make sure the alarms are all set tight, then I will sleep heavily, in the same bed as you."

"You've not even told them about us-" Spencer stopped, and he looked at Jack, who was now fully asleep in the chair. That had to have happened when he was outside, getting his bag. That explained Aaron's words.

"They know that I date. I just wanted them used to you before I started with PDA. Within my own house, I'm fully happy with PDA. I was going to tell them at dinner tonight." Aaron looked down at Rory and ran his fingers through her hair, where her head was pillowed on his thigh. There was such love in his eyes for her.

No one would ever be able to tell Spencer that Aaron didn't love her like she was his own. She was still so damned young when she had lost her mother. Jack, Aaron, and Jessica were the only ones that held good memories of Haley to be able to tell her everything that she needed to know her mother. Spencer had all of his memories of his mother, good and bad. Jack wasn't old enough to have the bad memories of when they had been divorcing at least, so he didn't have to lie to Rory.

"I think I'll go up and get my bag settled down." Spencer stood up again and grabbed his bag. He walked around the couch but stopped. He dropped his bag down on the bottom of the stairs before he walked around to kiss Aaron like he meant it.

"NO!" Rory yelled, and Spencer felt hands on him, tiny hands shoving at him.

Spencer expected to have little fists hitting him, pushing him away from her father, but Rory shot up on the couch and started to lay into Aaron instead. Spencer grabbed her hands as she began to cry.

"He's my Spencer, not yours, Daddy!" Rory tried to fight Spencer's hands, and she was crying. She was going to hurt herself if Spencer didn't let go. Spencer waited until Aaron was ready to take her when he did let go. Except she wiggled off of the couch and threw herself at Spencer, taking him down onto the coffee table, and it broke. Spencer felt the pain of his ass, but he wrapped his arms around Rory to stop her from falling too far and hurting herself.

"He's my Spencer," Rory sobbed into Spencer's neck.

"Dad?" Jack asked.

Spencer couldn't see him until he walked over closer to them.

"It's fine, Jack. Why don't you go up and get your shower in and get changed for bed? I think we can all do with a cuddly evening in the living room instead of the kitchen or dining room."

"Is Rory fine?" Jack asked. He looked down at Spencer.

"Yes, she's fine. She's just...upset," Spencer said.

"Okay." Jack looked like he didn't want to leave, but he did, his feet shuffling on the floor as he walked to the stairs. "Want me to take your bag up to Dad's room Spencer?"

"Yes, and thank you, Jack," Aaron said as he moved to where he could get a hold of Rory. Rory fought, leaving Spencer's arms, but Spencer helped Aaron disentangle her from his body.

"NO! He's mine!" Rory yelled.

Spencer carefully worked her fingers free of his shirt, and he sat up when Aaron had her in his lap on the couch.

"Rory, sweetie. Spencer and I are dating."

"No, he's mine." Rory was still crying, but she didn't seem to be as manic.

Spencer really had no clue what to do in this instance. He wasn't sure that talking was going help, but he also didn't want to leave Aaron to do this all on his own.

"Rory, I like you, but I like your Dad more."

"Your mine." Rory was holding fast to that.

"He's too old for you, Rory. He's old enough to have father both you and Jack, just like me."

Spencer shook his head and scooted closer, making sure that Rory was looking at him. "I really like you, Rory, but I don't like you that way." Spencer felt his stomach revolt at anyone his age liking her like that. He understood this, though. He knew what childhood crushes were and how they were all part of the learning cycle of life, but no one who was anywhere near any age that wasn't like one year on either side of her should have a crush on her. Yet, there wasn't a way to tell her why on that without freaking her out and scaring her in ways that she didn't need.

Looking at Aaron, Spencer saw the same look over his face.

"Why don't you like me like that?"

"Because I like guys, not girls, and you and Jack are both way too young for me. I don't mind being your friend, though, Rory-bug. I like you like that. I'm sure that we can be really good friends." Spencer really hoped that he was going to be shat on by the universe for kind of lying to Rory about that. He was into girls, but he had found that he didn't want a long term relationship with them. He hadn't even really missed anything about a female at all since he had started his sometimes thing with Dom, and now that he was focused on Aaron, he didn't even miss Dom.

Rory was stopping on the crying, and she looked at Spencer, then she looked at Aaron. There was something in her eyes that Spencer couldn't place before she slumped down. "I guess if you don't like me, it's okay if you like Daddy."

Aaron sighed in happiness. Spencer could understand that. These two kids were Aaron's life, and if one of them hated Spencer, Spencer didn't stand a chance in hell. Spencer could agree with it. He would never try and split up a family because of something that he wanted. Aaron deserved better than that.

"Thank you, sweetie," Aaron said, and he wrapped his arms around Rory to give her a hug. Spencer leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"Don't hurt daddy, or you'll have to answer to me," Rory said.

"I won't, I promise, Rory-bug." Spencer smiled at Aaron over top of Rory's head.

"Why don't we figure out what you want for dinner and then go and get you a bath so we can all pile on the couch to eat dinner and watch a movie?"

"I can bathe on my own, Daddy," Rory said.

"Oh, I know you can, doodle-bug, but you know I have to stay up there with you just in case and get the water set up. I don't mind you playing, but I don't want you hurting yourself."

"Maybe someday when you trust Spencer more, he can play ships with me in the tub?" Rory asked.

"Maybe."

Spencer knew that he wasn't going to agree to that for a long while.

* * *

Aaron heard the shower running, and he sighed as he stripped off his shirt. He had told Spencer to use his shower instead of the one in the hallway that connected to the guest room. The kids were both dead asleep, and Aaron had the monitors turned on in both rooms and the ones in his room on as well. He hadn't needed them for a long time, but the whole thing of SWAT invading the house months ago had actually started up nightmares in them both. It was a small price to pay for batteries.

The thought of adding an intercom system to the house was something that he had been thinking about for a long while. Something, where Aaron could turn it on and hear it anywhere in the house, was better than monitors that ran out of batteries or he had to drag around with him.

Aaron looked at the bathroom door to see that it was open. Aaron knew that Spencer was used to showering in a large area with a lot of other people on missions and such, but the bathroom door being an open thing was something that Aaron wasn't sure how to take. He stepped into the bathroom to see that Spencer wasn't in the shower yet. He was standing naked, looking at himself in the mirror. Well, he was fully naked. He still had his dog tags around his neck. Aaron heard them and saw them on occasion on cases. It was hard to miss the metal when he was bending over bodies and various other things.

Spencer wasn't without them as far as Aaron knew ever. It wasn't strange to see him wearing them right before he was going to shower either.

"What can I do?" Aaron asked.

"I don't know. I just...I won't say I am sorry for what I did. I'm sorry the kids saw it, I'm sorry it was public, but threats don't get to live in my world. He's a threat to you, to the kids, and no matter if we are lovers, boyfriends, whatever that's a threat that I couldn't allow to stay."

"Cruz texted me that you are already cleared, even before you sent in that report by email. There is going to be a hearing like there is all of the time, but you told him not to run. You addressed yourself, and he is on the most wanted list. First thing Monday, they will meet with you in the round table room in the BAU. He was a stain on the FBI and the whole federal justice system with how he was able to play it all from the confines of his jail cell. No one is going to miss him. No one wants to see him out and about. The Fugitive Retrieval Squad is still stretched thin on finding the rest of them, so we are going to consult as we have been and sometimes go if something looks like it needs us."

"Sure." Spencer looked in the mirror at himself again, and Aaron could see the wildness in his eyes. He had seen it before after missions that he had helped to run and sometimes went with the team on. Aaron wasn't able to spar with Spencer, not the way that he needed. That was something that Morgan could have done, and while Aaron had the SWAT training to do it, he was never kept up with them and to hand part of it more than what was needed to pass as an agent.

Aaron stepped up behind Spencer and bracketed his arms on either side of him, gripping the counter. He hooked his chin over Spencer's shoulder to look at him. "What can I do to help?"

"I don't know. I don't know what to do myself. I used to just beat a heavy bag until I could sleep and let my brain work it out. What are you offering because I know it's not sparring."

"No, you'd probably kill me on accident if we did that." Aaron smiled so that Spencer knew his words were playful and not truthful. "You are thin, but it's all muscle." Aaron let go of the counter with his hand and raised it up to where he was running it down Spencer's neck and then his chest. Spencer still had a good tan on him from life in the desert even though it had been months since he had been out in it. He splayed his hand over Spencer's abs where there was a six-pack still going, and the cut of his hips had that V that was kind of driving Aaron nuts.

Aaron knew that he was the same height as Aaron. Still, Aaron's body was a larger build, and he could see his clothes on the edges of Spencer's naked body. It was striking with the way that Spencer was built. Spencer could make money as a male model given his definition all over his body, but now it was all for Aaron to see, to touch, to have.

"I've wanted to have you, bent over whatever surface I could find since the moment that I saw you the day I arrived on base. I saw you and assumed you were some enlisted given you were there in the trenches training with the rest of them, and then I was introduced to you when you came in to talk to me. It was strange as hell to see you with the insignias and everything. I went back to my bunk and tossed one off to you and how I remembered seeing you as you were doing PT with the rest of the guys. Then I started to get to know you, I started to learn that you did that with the guys because you were a family."

"Then why don't you bend me over this counter and take what you want?"

"Because I wanted that then, but that's not what I want right now." Aaron reached up and tangled his fingers in Spencer's dog tags. He splayed his hand over Spencer's heart, the tags visible on the back of Aaron's hand. "Right now, I want you to get into that shower and get under the water warm, and I'll join you when I'm naked. Is that okay?"

"Yes," Spencer said, his voice coming out like a whisper.

Aaron watched Spencer get into the shower area, and he left the door open. Aaron stripped off his clothes and looked in the mirror. He smiled, and for the first time in a long time, it when to his eyes when he wasn't thinking about the kids. The bathroom was an indulgence on Aaron's part when he had moved in. He had spent money to get it renovated the way that he wanted. There was a tub in the corner that was big enough for both him and Spencer, but Aaron hadn't been thinking of a lover when he had moved in. He had just wanted a place where he could go to relax and not be disturbed. Places where he could let the tension of the day and being who he was just fade away. That it was perfect for him and Spencer was just a bonus.

Spencer was leaning against the wall of the shower with the water beating down on him. His tags were away from his chest, and it looked really good on him. Aaron had never had what some considered dog tag fever, but the sight of them on Spencer was more than doing it for him. He just had a Spencer fever, it seemed.

"Gonna stare at me all night long?" Spencer asked, but he never looked up from where his head was dropped down, enjoying the feel of the water on his body.

"I might, it's a lovely thing to stare at." Aaron let his eyes take in Spencer before he stepped fully into the cubicle and shut the door. He could see a few scars all over Spencer's body, but the most prominent was the one from the knife wound that had taken his kidney. It was still a little red, not nearly as faded as the others. Aaron laid a hand on Spencer's shoulder and pushed him up so he could slip between Spencer and the wall. Spencer's eyes went to Aaron's face, taking it in before they dropped down. Aaron didn't feel naked in front of Spencer. He felt safe and happy.

Spencer stepped in and kissed him, his hand dropping right down to Aaron's cock for a few pumps as his other hand tangled into Aaron's hair and held him in place. There was a feralness to the kiss that Aaron wanted to get rid of. He grabbed Spencer's hips to pull him closer, their cocks rubbing on each other. Spencer inhaled sharply at the feel, and his body loosened up some. It was a good feeling to feel Spencer letting go just from Aaron touching him. If he weren't already sure that Spencer trusted him, this would be the moment where he knew it.

Aaron turned them slowly to where they were both fully under the spray of the way, and he pressed his body to Spencer's fully, pushing him into the wall. Spencer broke the kiss to moan as Aaron reached back to grab his cheeks and knead them for a few seconds.

"Let me show you how I feel, Spencer," Aaron whispered against Spencer's lips.

"Yes."

Aaron grabbed the rag that he had thrown into the shower on a trip to the bathroom before. It was not his typical for the shower, but he knew how much Spencer liked purple, so when he had seen it in the store, a pack of them at that, Aaron had grabbed them.

"Close your eyes," Aaron said.

Spencer closed his eyes, and his body relaxed even more as Aaron got the rag wet and then added body wash to it. Spencer inhaled as the scent of it filled the room. It was Spencer's brand, as well. With how relaxed Spencer was at smelling it, Aaron figured that Spencer had noticed it in the bath supplies on the rack in the shower. He laughed as Spencer reached out and unerringly grabbed his and to bring it closer to smell it.

"I love that smell. It's why I bought it. I couldn't care less about what the brand is or that it's meant to be marketed to women. I love that smell."

"I love the smell on you as well. I used it to jerk off after I bought it. I kept on getting hints of it all day long, and it just made me a little hard." Aaron stepped to where he was sure that Spencer knew they were just about to touch, but they weren't. He lathered up the rag and started to wash off Spencer. He jumped at a little at the touch. Aaron started with his arms. He wanted to work Spencer a little this way before he worked on his head and face. Aaron cleaned both arms, taking care with the hands to try and remove the scent of gunpowder from them.

When Aaron was done with that, he laid the rag out of the spray of the water and grabbed the shampoo.

"You bought everything that I use," Spencer said.

"Yes. Most I knew by smell, but a few I had to sneak into your go-bag on that last case and take pictures. I shouldn't be shocked that you buy little bottles of the stuff and just refill them."

"I like my luxuries. It's not like I got the good stuff in the desert. I just don't feel like I need to do anything else other than what I want. It's not hurting anything."

"I never said it was. I just said that it's you."

Aaron rubbed the shampoo between his hands, and then when Spencer had moved out of the direct line of the spray, Aaron started to clean his hair. It was good, felt so damned good. Just being able to touch. Spencer was making little noises that meant he liked what was happening to him. It wasn't quite sex noises, but it was getting there. Aaron loved it, he wanted this. If they both hadn't been thinking about this for four years, they wouldn't be here. It was strange to think that they had both been doing it. They were both in want of love from each other. They wanted each other. Five months together in the wilds of the world, and they both were forever changed.

When Aaron tipped Spencer's head into the stream of water, his eyes opened up and looked at Aaron through them. They were half-lidded, and he looked sexy as hell. Spencer moved his head side to side to get the shampoo off of it.

"Your leave-in conditioner is on the counter," Aaron said.

"I know. I saw it." Spencer closed his eyes again and moved to where his face wasn't in the spray.

Aaron grabbed a second, softer rag, and lathered it up before he used it on Spencer's face and then his own. He tossed it to the corner when he was done and grabbed the shampoo for his hair. It was a few passes through, and he was. Aaron picked up the purple rag again and cleaned up the rest of Spencer's body and then his own. They were both hard as hell, and Aaron just wanted to drop to his knees and suck off Spencer. It was a damned good feeling. Aaron made sure that he had cleaned everything except for the parts that he had to be on his knees before he finished off his lower body.

Dropping to his knees carefully, Aaron looked up at Spencer as he tapped his foot. Spencer's eyes flew open, and he looked down at Aaron at his feet. Aaron turned his attention to the cleaning of Spencer's feet and lower legs before he tossed the rag away.

"Yes?" Aaron asked.

Spencer nodded his head before his head fell back against the tile of the shower, and he groaned.

Aaron grabbed Spencer's hips to hold him in place, his fingers digging into pure muscle. That shouldn't be as arousing as it was. Spencer was hard, and there was even a small drop of his release working its way free. Aaron licked up the head of his cock and dove down to get more. He licked up the underside of Spencer's cock and made sure that he left nothing behind before he opened his mouth and angled his head so the cock would go inside. Spencer groaned, and Aaron didn't slow down as he worked him.

After a minute, Aaron wrapped his hand around the base of Spencer's cock and started to stroke it when he was moving up to the head. He groaned as the taste of Spencer hit his taste buds. He knew that he should hate it, the taste of another man's release. He hated the taste of his own, but this was different, and Aaron loved it. It didn't take long at all for Spencer to come, his cock all the way inside of Aaron's mouth so he could swallow around the head. He shuddered through the feel of Spencer's cock as it shot in his mouth, and then Aaron pulled back to catch the last bit on his tongue.

Spencer's hands were tangled in Aaron's wet hair as much as they could get, and when Aaron finally let go of his cock, he pulled Aaron up to kiss him. Spencer chased the taste of himself in Aaron's mouth, and it was something wonderful. Aaron plastered himself to Spencer and started to rut against him. This was what he wanted to do, mark Spencer as his. Even if the evidence was going to get washed down the drain as soon as he stepped away. Aaron held Spencer in place with a hand on his hip and fingers tangled in his hair, keeping him right where he wanted. It was heaven. Aaron wasn't gentle, not with the kiss or his rutting. It was slick and pleasure all wrapped up in one wonderful thing. He loved it and hated it by equal measure. He hated it because it wasn't like they could do this every single second of the day and that Aaron hated more than anything.

Fighting out of Aaron's hold, Spencer pulled his lips away from Aaron. "Mark me, Aaron."

Aaron ducked his head down and did as Spencer wanted him to but probably not in the way that Spencer wanted. Aaron found the skin at the base of Spencer's chin, just under his jaw bone, and he sucked. Aaron came when Spencer's hands grabbed his hips and pulled him close enough and hard enough that Aaron was pretty sure he was going to be bruised. Aaron kept on rocking through his orgasm right until it was all too much. He let his head slump down onto Spencer's shoulder as the water started to turn a little cooler than he would like. Aaron reached out and turned the hot water up some and stepped back long before he wanted to.

"That was good," Spencer said as he draped his arms over Aaron's shoulders and pulled him in for softer kisses.

Aaron pulled Spencer with him to rinse off before he turned the water off, breaking the kiss only when he had to.

"Yes, it was. I think the full thing might make me pass out."

Spencer laughed, and the look in his eyes was less. He looked less wild, less unrestrained. He rubbed his nose on Aaron's. "I will probably have a nightmare of some kind. It's never too bad, and I don't think I'll hurt you, but don't just grab me and roll me over if I do scream."

"I won't. I've learned enough about my own to know what not to do."

"Good. I assume that the kids might end up in bed, I don't mind sleeping in the guest room. I don't know if you have had overnight guests before that slept in your bed."

"Beth did it once and then never again. And I think that we will be fine in my bed. We will have to wear at least underwear."

"I sleep with sleep pants on, so that's not going to be an issue." Spencer yawned. Aaron could see how tired his eyes were now that he was showered and loose from orgasm. This was the Spencer that he wanted to see. This was what he wanted to do to him.

"Then let's get dry, into clothes, and sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Despite the chill of the room, Spencer wrapped his arms around Aaron tighter, pulling him into a hug that was wonderful. Aaron started to walk them back toward the door of the shower before he got too chilled. Spencer laughed as Aaron began to shiver with the chill, and it sounded wonderful. Just what Aaron needed to hear.


	17. Chapter 17

## Chapter 17

### October 2016

Aaron heard the chatter about the suspect that was holed up inside of the warehouse with the rest of his team and various LEOs surrounding the building so that he couldn't escape. The UnSub had thankfully left the victim he had kidnapped behind when the BAU had closed in. There was also a wounded on the scene, but the way that the wounded had been so was not something that had been shared.

The ambulance was already there, and Aaron saw one of the vests that his team used on the ground outside of it. He knew then that it was one of his team. Aaron had been giving a press conference with JJ when the message had been relayed that the team had found the UnSub on a routine check-in in the last neighborhood.

Callahan walked over to Aaron with a hesitant smile on her face.

"So when we all heard Navy SEAL but Officer, I don't think we thought at all about what this would actually be like."

"Okay," Aaron said. He looked around for said Navy SEAL, but Spencer was nowhere in sight. He hadn't heard him over the comms either.

"So you know that we all loved Morgan, and we all miss him and how Garcia made the comment that it was going to have to be Anderson who learned how to kick down doors and chase UnSubs across seven miles?"

Aaron laughed a little at that because Morgan had really chased an UnSub across a city for seven miles before finally catching him. Aaron had been pretty sure that Morgan was going to die when it was said and done.

"Well, let's say that Reid has filled that spot just fine. The UnSub was trying to take another victim before he had killed and dumped his other. Reid saw him, yelled he was FBI to see what happened. The guy dropped the victim and then took off running. We all followed in the SUV and got here at the same time that the UnSub ran inside. The first door was no issue, and Reid kicked it in just fine. The second? We assume steel on the other side of the wood. He's getting looked at in the back of the SUV as the UnSub did have a gun and nicked the side of Reid's throat, that shot all cut the cable on his earwig."

Aaron stormed over to the back of the ambulance to see that Spencer had a small bandage on his neck that was a little red at one spot.

"He's fine, Sir. I've seen worse cuts from kids shaving for the first time," the EMT said as he tossed the trash in the small trash can in the back. There was also a needle that was dropped into the sharps container. "Local while I cleaned it and so that he can move for the time being."

"I thought they taught you to duck out of the way of bullets in the Navy?" Aaron demanded. He regretted the tone and the look on his face as soon as the words left his mouth.

Spencer's eyes widened, and he looked at Aaron in a way that he never had.

"They did. However, I was caught by a ricochet of some kind. Not even sure it wasn't my own damned gun that did it." Spencer stood up and leaned over to grab his vest before he started to strap it on again. He gave Aaron another look out of the side of his eye, and then he walked over to where Dave was standing at the side of the building, behind the SWAT van that had been called to help take care of the area.

"Show me where he is," Dave said, and he pointed at the map of the building that was in front of him.

Aaron watched Spencer point at a room. He grabbed a marker and crossed out, not just one but three doors.

"I broke all of those to where they aren't getting back on the track to shut at all. So there are a few good vantage points for the SWAT guys to get in there, and we can see if we can talk him out."

"We need to figure out where he's holding the other victim," Aaron said as he stepped up.

"Not really," Spencer said.

"Why?" Aaron asked.

"The UnSub told the woman he was trying to take where he was going to take her," Dave said.

"Really?"

"Yes. Anderson and a team of LEOs, as well as another SWAT Unit, are on their way there. SWAT is going to clear the place but allow Anderson to talk to the victim first," Dave answered.

"So, we don't have to worry so much about taking the UnSub alive if we don't get that chance."

An hour later, SWAT is checking to make sure there are no traps after one of them got a good shot at the UnSub after the first breach failed due to instability in a walkway that alerted the UnSub that someone was in there. He started to fire wildly and got one of SWAT in the thigh. It hadn't been that bad, really, but it was enough that it was too dangerous to try and take the UnSub alive.

"Reid with me," Aaron said when they were getting ready to clear out of the area and let the locals and SWAT deal with it. Anderson had the victim at the hospital getting checked out while the rest of the BAU was going to finish up what they needed and fly home.

"Actually, I'm going to go with Rossi," Spencer said.

Aaron turned to look at Spencer, who was getting into the SUV with Dave. Aaron got to watch him leave that way.

"Hotch," JJ said as she stepped up to him.

"Yes?" Aaron tried to keep the growl out of his voice.

"The pilot just called. The jet's got an issue, so it's grounded until the repairman can get it fixed. So we are stuck at least overnight as the part won't get here until morning. I'll call the hotel and extend us another night."

"Text the team. Thanks for letting me know." Aaron rubbed a hand over his face and looked at Callahan, who was waiting beside the SUV. Aaron was shocked she hadn't gone with Dave as well.

"Look, I know you don't like to talk, Hotch, but maybe you should," Callahan said after ten minutes of silence in the SUV as they drove back to the station house they were based out of.

The Florida sun was high in the sky today, and Aaron just wanted to go home, but that wasn't going to happen. He had thought they would be able to grab dinner before picking up the kids from Jessica and get some time to unwind.

"I just...I know it wasn't a bad wound, really it could have been a lot worse, but it's the first time he's been injured, and I know that I overreacted to it and I have no clue what to do to tell him I'm sorry for being an overbearing ass."

"You could just tell him you are an overbearing ass, he probably knows it already. It's a well-known fact that you hover around every single member of the team when they get hurt. He'll forgive you."

Aaron nodded his head and focused on driving again. It wasn't going to go well for him to stop and worry about it at the moment. It seemed they would have all evening to talk. He didn't want to get into it with Callahan. He knew that he had been an ass to question Spencer like he had. Aaron had never had to worry about Haley right up until he woke up in the hospital and found out that Foyet had targeted her, Jack, and Rory. It hadn't been something that was in his way of thinking. The BAU hadn't been really targeted like that before. Though it had come close with Frank Breitkopf. It had been horrible, but he had been caught before he had done anything at all. Aaron hadn't been happy about it all, but it had been something that he had been unable to actually deal with at the time.

The drive was silent, and Aaron saw that Dave was already at the station. Spencer was settled in at the desk in the room they had been using and was working on his report, adding notations of some kind. Aaron watched him as Dave and Callahan kept away from where they were. It was probably one of the only times that Aaron had seen Dave keep his nose out of things. Aaron knew that Spencer knew that he was there, but he was letting Aaron figure himself out. It was one of the bigger things that Aaron had figured out about Spencer. The military had taught him to wait things out when he could. He just left things alone and waited for Aaron to come home when Aaron was ready. So far, that strategy had stopped Aaron from sticking his foot in his mouth on a few occasions when his temper had been high because of the kids fighting or Rory liking Spencer more than him.

Aaron understood kids, he did. He knew that Rory like Spencer because Spencer treated her like she was her own person, not a kid that needed to be coddled but someone who he could talk to for long periods of time and was just someone who he enjoyed being around. Yet, Aaron hadn't been ready for her affections to fall to someone who wasn't him.

There wasn't a person in Aaron's life that could state that Aaron didn't love Rory with all that he was. He knew that her concentration had been something that was outside of her control. She was a little girl who needed love, and Aaron had never shied away from showing her affection even when she was a toddler, and Jack wanted to take her with him to go to his father's for the weekend because their plans had been something that Jack thought she would enjoy. Aaron had just made sure that he had a bed for her in his room, and she was happy with that. It made Jack happy, and he was all for making sure that Jack was happy, even before he had taken custody of Rory after Haley's death.

Yet, Aaron hated that she was missing Spencer more when they were gone on cases than Rory was missing Aaron. Aaron hadn't wanted to feel that until she was a teenager, and he was trying not to show his badge to every single kid that came around. Aaron had already started to think about what he wanted to do when that came. Now though, Spencer was in those thoughts, and he was trying to reconcile that with what he wanted out of life. Aaron wanted to share his life in the future with Spencer, but he realized that he hadn't figured out how to share his current life with Spencer.

"I'm fine, Aaron," Spencer said as he turned around and looked at Aaron with a soft smile on his face. "I'm nearly done with this report, and I have already packed up everything that really needs it. You took the longest way to get here, so I had plenty of time. JJ texted everyone, so we know that the jet won't be taking off. Go and call Jessica to update her, and then we can go back to the hotel and get changed out of work clothes and into fun clothes before we find a place where we wanna eat dinner."

"I-" Aaron stopped when Spencer shook his head back and forth with a smile on his face.

"We can talk later. Go run roughshod over everyone out there and get them working. JJ's just been staring at us for ten minutes. Rossi probably made a bet about us kissing or something."

Aaron laughed and turned to look at JJ, who was indeed staring at them. It was funny to see her turn her head away so fast that she seemed to nearly give herself whiplash. Aaron saw Anderson coming into the station with Callahan on his heels. Aaron wondered if she had been outside for something or had gone to meet him at the hospital to talk to the victim after Aaron had slipped into the room. Aaron really wasn't sure how long he had been staring at Spencer, and he really wasn't sure if he wanted to know how long he had been.

"Twenty-two minutes and seven seconds," Spencer said as Aaron opened the door and walked out.

The rest of the late afternoon passed by quickly as the team worked on everything that they needed to, filing out the paper forms that would work for the case when there weren't enough laptops to go around for all of them to file them that way. The team would work on that over the course of the evening if they stayed in or tomorrow on the flight home. It was simple and easy for them to just work on that on the way home if they had the papers already filled out. It wasn't that bad for them to do it, and all of them would rather do that than to have time taken out when they got home instead of heading home to their residences.

Spencer was laughing in the little coffee shop in the hotel when Aaron entered it. The parking lot had spots save for the cars so that they didn't have to fight for spots that were far away or dangerous at night, even though they were police. Aaron turned toward the coffee shop, and Aaron saw that he was talking to a teenage girl who had tattoos on her body. Aaron could see the faded spots that said they were fake ones, but still, it made her look a lot older than she probably was.

"Hey, Aaron," Spencer said with a smile for Aaron when he looked up at him.

"Hey," Aaron said. He walked over to take a seat beside Spencer, and he tried to pull his eyes away from the prosthetic leg that the girl had. It was very evident as it was one of the ones with a metal bar instead of an actual leg looking piece.

"This is Star. She tried to run me over as she was coming in, and I was leaving, so she offered to buy me coffee, and we got to discussing limb replacement for use versus look. Star, this is Aaron Hotchner. We work together."

"In the BAU. Yeah, I saw the news that you guys were here. I am happy that you guys are here. Mom's been keeping me close to home, but at least I can walk to get coffee when I want after school on the way home. It's only a block out of my way."

"Star is going to be a lawyer. She's already been accepted to her first-choice school. I told her that I don't like lawyers all that much but that it's because my father is one and I hate him. Though I guess I don't hate them all, do I? I mean, you started out as one, and I know that you keep your ability to do it up to date, so I guess I just hate one lawyer."

"I better go. You are cool, Agent Reid. Have fun for the rest of your stay, and I hope you go to the restaurant I told you about. Maybe mom ill let me go there this weekend. Who knows." Star stood up with a smile on her face as she held out her hand for Spencer to shake, and then she did the same to Aaron.

"Having a good afternoon?" Aaron asked.

"Pretty good. I mean, the coffee here isn't nearly as good as that place that is close to your house, but it's passable enough to sustain me until dinner. Their scones, though, are to die for. I bought you one." Spencer pulled out a little strip of paper and handed it over.

Aaron took it and saw that it was for a large cup of coffee and his choice of scone. Aaron got up and handed over the slip of paper to the barista on the other side of the counter. He ordered what he wanted and then turned around. Spencer wasn't where he had been. Aaron looked around, hoping that he had not just randomly disappeared from the shop. He saw him though over in the back corner at a two-person table that had their seats beside each other instead of across from each other.

"Here you go, Sir," the barista said as she slid a plate over as well as his cup of coffee in a to-go cup.

Aaron weaved through the tables to head back to where Spencer was and watched as Spencer was reading something on his phone. Aaron settled in at the table in the other chair. He took a sip of the coffee and broke off a chunk of the scone to take a small bite of. It was really good, and he could see why Spencer liked it. It wasn't as sweet as typical scones were. Just a little sugar in the dough, as well as the cinnamon throughout, gave it just enough sweetness to help with the coffee.

"I'm sorry."

"I know you are, Aaron. It was a shock for you. It's the first time I've been hurt while you have been around. I am used to it, so it was old hat. I did duck when he started to fire at me. I ducked down and returned fire, and it was someone's ricochet that hit me. I checked it before I started to ease out. I knew that the blood was a lot, but there really wasn't a great deal of it, and the pain wasn't as bad as it could have been, so I wasn't worried about bleeding out."

"It was a fucking shock," Aaron said.

Spencer smiled at him before he took a sip of his drink. On Spencer's exhale, Aaron could smell the spice and figured that Spencer had got a chai latte. It was something that Aaron found that Spencer enjoyed a great deal. There wasn't a good way to get a good chai when he had been on a mission, and even just hot tea from a bag wasn't the greatest. Coffee, though, Spencer lived off of coffee most of the time. It was about the only thing that Aaron had seen him drink other than water. He didn't drink alcohol all that often. A bottle of wine with Aaron with meals or a beer here and there. With only a single kidney, it was best. Still, Aaron wondered what Spencer would do when he couldn't drink coffee anymore due to his age. Spencer loved coffee, even horrible coffee like what was found in the stations that they worked out of on cases. There were always good places to get coffee, though, and Aaron knew that Spencer struck up conversations with other officers to find those good places.

"I know it was, and that was why I stepped back to allow you to handle it on your own. You didn't need me telling you anything that you already knew. That was just something that was going to cause a horrible fight that we didn't need to get into while we were on a case. Even if the case was pretty much over at that point. It was the best option. I know that Rossi will keep the spat from his report, and so will the rest of the team. Still, we might want to make sure that they all know that we are good. We are more than good, really." Spencer reached out and laid his hand over Aaron's.

Aaron and Dave were sharing a room while JJ and Callahan shared one, and Spencer and Anderson shared the last room. The budget was being stretched a little thin at the moment, so Aaron had them on a double-up rotation.

"Rossi offered to allow me to swap rooms with him if you wanted since the case was done. It's not like we can really do anything to distract ourselves at this point. I don't mind it at all, but it's up to you."

"Dave's got his things everywhere. It's going to be easier for me to just swap with Anderson instead. Anderson is a neat freak of epic proportions; it's why Dave hates to share with him. Still, yeah, I think that I do what to change out and bunk with you."

Spencer smiled at him, and it was a blinding smile. Sex hadn't gotten further than blow jobs and frottage yet, but Aaron was okay with that. Sex really wasn't the biggest part of their relationship. It happened when it did, and Aaron was okay with that. The biggest thing had been Aaron getting used to Spencer's dog tags on the nights that he slept over. The jingle of them or then settled on Aaron when Spencer turned over to lean into him as they slept. Aaron found himself playing with them, though when he was waking up in the mornings or tracing the tattoo that was over Spencer's heart. Aaron recognized the team symbol for SEAL Team 8. It was interesting to see the tattoo on Spencer, and Aaron hadn't paid much attention to it the first time that they had sex. That was more about Aaron showing Spencer what he was feeling.

"Want a refill?" Spencer asked after a few minutes of silence.

Aaron picked up his coffee, getting ready to tell Spencer no, but he found that his cup was empty. The scone was gone as well. "Sure."

Spencer trashed their cups and came back a few minutes later with another cup for each of them. Aaron knew that Spencer had got plain black coffee given how he looked when he took a drink of it. He didn't make a face, but it wasn't a drink that he took pleasure in drinking. That meant it wasn't that great of coffee. Aaron didn't really taste much of a difference in it compared to other coffees, but then Spencer was the snob.

"Why don't we head up and get things moved around. Grant's in his room right now."

"How do you know that?" Aaron asked.

"Because he just texted me and told me that Rossi told him that we might be swapping. He didn't want him freaking out. Rossi's not up there right now, he went out and is doing something. He said not to wait on him to get back in the last text he sent Grant."

"You and Anderson get along a lot better than I thought that you were going to."

"We like a lot of the same things, especially Star Trek."

"Yes. Jack's enjoying watching Star Trek thanks to you."

"Hey, it's a great show, and really he could be watching to watch worse things. I've not even got him on Doctor Who yet."

Aaron laughed and took a drink of his coffee. The smile on Spencer's face was one that was just for Aaron. It was great, really. It was something that was just for them, and Aaron wanted it more.

"I know that you can take care of yourself, Spencer. Never think that I don't. You are strong and sure. You are a badass. I just worry."

"You had the mother of your children taken from you at the hands of one of the people that you hunt and put away. I get it. I'm used to the guys on the team worrying about me. It will be just fine as we get used to this. I'm not going to throw a fit if you don't act the way I think you should. The military beat that kind of thing into me."

Aaron shook his head and reached out to take hold of Spencer's hand and pull it up for a kiss. Aaron knew that Spencer liked that gesture, and it was something that Aaron loved to do.

* * *

Spencer laughed as Aaron regaled him with one of the more hilarious stories about Jason Gideon as they drove home from getting home from the case on a Saturday. It was still bright out despite the threat of rain.

"Oh shit," Spencer said as he saw the two vehicles that were parked in front of Aaron's house. Spencer could see his Jeep parked beside where Aaron's car was going to be parked while at the front of the other two was Jessica's car.

"Spencer?" Aaron asked.

"Your house has been invaded," Spencer said.

Aaron pulled into the driveway, and Spencer didn't even wait for the car to be turned off before he got out, leaving everything behind. He made his way around to the side of the house, where he could hear laughing. He had no clue how in the hell they had found him.

"Spencer!" Aaron yelled, but Spencer ignored him.

Spencer stopped as he made his way through the gate. He saw Rivera and Agnew playing soccer with Jack while Jessica, Rory, and Alana were seated under a tree. Kellett and Torres were there watching everything.

"Captain!" Kellett yelled as soon as he noticed Spencer.

"These lovely rug rats were entertaining us while we waited on you. Someone told us that you were dating," Torres said as he stood up and looked at Jessica with a smile. "You picked a good one."

"Except for the fact that I am not dating Jessica," Spencer said. He felt Aaron walking up behind him.

"Hotch?" Rivera asked as all eyes turned to look at Spencer and now Aaron.

"Rivera, Agnew, Kellett, Torres," Aaron said in greeting.

"You are the boyfriend?" Kellett asked. He looked at Aaron and then spun to look at where Agnew and Rivera were standing. "Ag?"

"Hey, I never said I didn't know who he was dating. I just said that I hadn't been introduced to him as Reid's boyfriend. Take note of the wording introduced as the boyfriend."

"I see these animals just made themselves at home here," Spencer said, pushing the shock off of finding part of his team in Aaron's backyard.

"We were driving around just to get off of the base, and so we dragged Agnew and Rivera with us," Torres said as he finally stepped up to shake Aaron's hand.

It broke the tension, and Spencer shoved him backward before they all settled down into chairs. There was a lounge chair that Aaron settled down on with his legs off the sides so that Spencer could sit at the end. Rory came running over and jumped into Spencer's lap. Which had Torres' eyes widening in shock.

"Miss Lorelei loves Spencer," Aaron said as he relaxed back in the chair. Aaron's gaze was locked on Jack, who was playing with the soccer ball alone, doing footwork drills.

"So you guys were just driving around, saw my Jeep, and what?"

"Knocked on the door, and then there was nothing. Then the scream of laughter from the backyard drew us in. Rory was chasing Jack around, trying to catch him and put a girly crown on his head," Rivera said.

"I tried to stop them, but Nick just went right into the yard and called out. Poor Jessica looked like she wanted to scream or shoot them. I am not sure which one."

"Shoot. Aaron's taught me how to shoot a gun. Though I knew that they were more than just normal people. I've seen enough of Spencer to understand men with training like him. I looked it up. Read a book or two on training and just everything, really. I knew within seconds that they had to be friends of his, and I knew that Aaron and Spencer were on their way back. I saw no reason not to surprise Spencer like I had been surprised. Though I would like to understand what had ruined that."

"Kellett borrowed another vehicle from the base, and I know Rivera's car well."

"We are on loan to Quantico for a month and a half for training," Agnew asked like he knew what Spencer's next question was going to be. "All base vehicles are the same for bases in this area, so it wasn't that hard to guess. We were bored and just looking for fun, and then we see Reid's Jeep where it really shouldn't be and crashed the party."

"You are all a bunch of children," Spencer said with a laugh. He felt Aaron's hand on his shoulder, and he leaned back into it. It felt damned good to do that in front of the guys. Spencer looked at Agnew and Rivera, though, and started to sit up. Waving for him to lay down again, Alana laughed and tugged on Agnew until he was sitting down on the ground in front of her chair. She reached out to run her hand through his hair.

"A few things have changed for at least us," Rivera said.

"Really?" Spencer asked.

"What I thought that Alana was Rivera's wife," Aaron said.

"I am his wife, but I have been in an open relationship with them both for years. That's why we all live together. The team, for the most part, thinks that I take pity on Nick and allow him to live with us since he's hopeless in love. Instead, I have relations with them both."

"Oh," Aaron said. He looked a little shocked when Spencer looked up at him.

"Yeah, so it was easy to pick out Spencer."

"So you two..." Aaron trailed off, and Spencer could see his eyes dart between Agnew and Rivera.

"Ah, no. I'm firmly straight," Nick said as he leaned forward. "Greg's the bisexual one. I'm sure that if I were ever up to try it, he would be the one that I do it with. I love him in a very platonic way, but I don't have sexual feelings for him."

"Spencer," Jessica said.

Spencer turned to look at her.

"I think that you are the least weird on your team, where I used to think that you were the oddest. I have a date, and I would love to stay, but I need to get ready for it. It was lovely to meet all of you. You have the house number here, please call next time."

"Yes, Ma'am," all four soldiers said. Alana laughed a little and hugged Jessica goodbye. The kids took a long time to give her hugs, and Spencer just watched from where he was laying on Aaron.

"They miss you," Aaron said into Spencer's ear when Jessica was gone from the yard.

Agnew was back over with the kids.

"I talk to them weekly over Skype," Spencer said. He looked at Aaron's face for a few seconds. "I have gone out with them and even spent an entire day down in Little Creek with all thirteen of them. A few have retired out, but they stayed in the area."

"They went from seeing you near-daily to seeing you over a computer once a week, Spencer. Go spend the evening with them. We will be here when you get back."

"We had plans."

"And those plans can happen tomorrow or the day after or whenever we want." Aaron kissed the side of Spencer's face and hugged him tight before letting go of him altogether.

Aaron watched Spencer as he left with the guys and Alana. Jack and Rory were a little upset, but they understood at least enough that Spencer had his own life and that all of his free time wasn't going to spend with them. Aaron wasn't that upset about Spencer heading out. Even if he did know that they were going to go and drink. He really didn't care about that, but he knew that Spencer had to watch his intake with his kidney. Aaron wasn't obsessed with it or anything, but he did watch the intake of his own when they were at home. Spencer was good at varying his diet enough to the best way for him, even on cases, but alcohol was a big draw when Spencer was being social with people.

Dinner was quick and straightforward, and then it was movie time for the kids. Aaron got them both to bed with little issue, even though Jack wanted to stay up a full hour beyond his ordinary. Aaron allowed it as it was better than fighting with him.

It was ten, and Spencer still wasn't there. Aaron decided not to text, figuring that Spencer just had the guys drop him off at his place with Joe, and they would be by to pick up the Jeep in the morning. Aaron is just about to lock up when he sees a car stop in front of the house. The front seat door opens, and it's Spencer. Aaron sees Alana on the other side of Spencer, and he just opens the front door so that Spencer could see him. Aaron waited with bated breath as Spencer talked to someone who was in the backseat. There is a huge blinder on the window like what was used to block the sun from kids in the back seat that stops him from seeing who is there, but Aaron figures that it was Agnew and Rivera.

Aaron was still a lot shocked by that. He had seen them interacting together, but he had never realized that they were more than best friends. Aaron didn't fully understand being able to share the woman and not be in a relationship with the person he was sharing with, but it worked for them and seemed to have worked for a long time, so Aaron had no right to say a damned thing about it. They were happy and had it seemed had been happy for a long time.

Spencer turned around and saw Aaron there in the doorway, and he smiled. Aaron smiled back, and he was just glad that Spencer had come home to him. He didn't like it when Spencer wasn't there, but just like the kids, he had to get used to the fact that Spencer did have a life outside of Aaron and the kids and the BAU, so that meant that they had to share.

"You know those four were not the ones that I assumed would be the ones to track you down. Agnew and Rivera yes but not Kellett and Torres," Aaron said when Spencer got close to the house.

"Kellett and I bonded that last mission. I bled on him, and he got me help. It creates a bond. Torres just likes me for some strange reason. I don't even try and figure him out that much. He's like a bad suit, he just never goes away. He emails me whatever he can that's not classified on what they are doing. He lets me know when they have a spin-up. They used to call me Team Mom, and now it seems that Torres has taken that over. Wright's about to take a desk job, and the new guy that they replaced me with has failed at so much."

"Failed, and he's still on the team?" Aaron asked. He tugged Spencer inside and locked the door. The alarm was next, Aaron had already checked all other doors and windows. It was a habit that had been huge after Foyet but had slowly dropped. There were alarms on every single window and door in the house, and if opened, they were going to go off. Yet, Aaron liked to check them even if Lewis was dead.

"He's failing at being the Team Mom," Spencer said with a smile. He wrapped his arms around Aaron's head and pulled him into a kiss. Aaron could taste faded brandy on his tongue when Spencer deepened the kiss, but it was not strong at all. Spencer hadn't drunk a lot, which Aaron didn't figure that he would, but there had been that fear. "Agnew admitted that Dad gave them a rough location of where I was so that they could find me. He didn't figure they would hunt me down that quick."

Getting ready for bed was simple, and Aaron liked watching Spencer change out of his clothes and into sleep pants. He wore those and an A-Shirt to bed most nights since it was colder out. During the last heatwave of September, Spencer had slept shirtless. Aaron kind of missed that as Spencer always tucked his tags under his shirt so that they didn't move all that much.

"I talk to Dad while we were on the case," Spencer said as he laid down in the bed. He was on his side and looking at Aaron's side of the bed even though Aaron wasn't in there yet. "He reminded me that I have to explain myself and why I don't like something instead of just ignoring it."

"Okay." Aaron got in the bed and copied the way that Spencer was lying, he was just facing Spencer.

"Your birthday is coming up. I remember we had plans to celebrate it with the team before you were dragged back stateside before the end of our rotation. I just never..." Spencer sighed. "Mom always made a big deal about birthdays, and as I grew up, I just tried to ignore them. I don't hate them, but I hate the reminder that Mom couldn't raise me. Dad did things for me, and I had fun, but it was never mentioned as a birthday thing. The team found out about my 21st, and they took me out for it to get drunk when we got back, but they learned that I didn't like it. So they just did small things for me around my birthday. Dad pointed out that I was going to celebrate yours, and then you would want to find out about mine and would be upset that I didn't tell you about it."

"When was it?" Aaron asked. He could tell that Spencer had let it pass, but it had to be recent. Hence the angst.

"The ninth. I just didn't want the kids to make a big deal about it but Dad's right that as soon as I make a big deal out of yours, and then you find out I let mine pass, it's like I'm saying that I am not important and you are, and it's not the way to make a relationship work."

"For a bachelor his entire life, your father is scarily in tune with relationship things."

"He was the Team Mom for his team. It's not always an officer. Now it's Torres, and he's just screwed."

"What about Young?"

"He could never be Team Mom. Ever. He'd kill the team as much as make sure they pack underwear. The BAU has JJ, and that's enough."

"I've noticed that she's chilled around you more." Aaron reached out and cupped the side of Spencer's face, rubbing his thumb over Spencer's lip. Spencer nipped at that finger before he smiled.

"I got clearance to talk to her a little about what why she was so horrible for that and what ended up happening, the bombing and everything else as well. You know when I was younger, kids and dogs hated me. Teenage years couldn't get either close to me. Then I got on a SEAL Team, and Flores' dog just loved me. Then the kids' thing started to change some. Then kids in villages we were going to just loved me. It went vastly downhill from there."

"Why didn't you like kids?"

"Kids my own age didn't like me. I think it was a fear thing. I was scared of them hating me, and they could sense it, smell it. Same with dogs. I knew that but still. Dogs were always very vicious around Mom and me, and I think a lot of that was her mental instability. The dogs could smell her medications or something."

"Has she agreed to see you yet?" Aaron asked. He knew that things were tense with her and Spencer when he had been in the military, but Aaron had no clue if things had changed since Spencer had joined the FBI. Aaron didn't feel like it was his place to ask, given that Spencer didn't like to talk about her. Aaron hated to talk about his mother as well, so he understood. Aaron didn't feel like Spencer was keeping anything from him. Neither of them was very open people, and despite the love that had built when they hadn't even been around each other, Aaron knew that trust like that was going to take time. He was glad to wait for it.

"Yes. Thanksgiving. You've worked to get the team off the entire week since it's worked the last three by happy accident. I'm going to fly out on Friday night when we get off of work and then come home on Monday morning. I already have the flight booked, it's open-ended on the departure time to and from. They were very happy to work with me, given my job. Then I'll have most of Thanksgiving week to spend with the team since they are mostly home, and I'll get to meet the new guys. Torres is planning a cookout in Little Creek at his house on Tuesday. It's got a big enough backyard that he has a fire pit built-in, and he's bought a whole bunch of portable ones and those forced air heaters. It's going to be a fun day. I was going to drive down early, see whose around on the base."

Aaron can hear the tone in Spencer's voice. He wants Aaron to go with him, probably the kids as well, but he has no clue what the plans are for Aaron for that week off.

"I'm sure that the kids will love to see those four again and be around some others. I've given them tours of Quantico, Navy, and FBI parts and all but seeing Little Creek sounds like it might be really fun for them. They have the full week off of school. We can head down in the Jeep or the car, whichever. Maybe even find a hotel for that night so that we don't have to drive back while we are tired."

"Or we can open up the house in Little Creek and sleep there."

"What?"

"Dad knew that I would want to go down, and so while he sold the bigger one, there is another that we bought closer to base. It was a little thing after I was injured out. There is a service that cleans it and keeps it up. A few of the guys will use it for any family that they fly in to see them. Officially Alana keeps track of it all. It's made things really nice."

"So exactly how much money does your father have?" Aaron asked. He was flush with money, but given everything that Aaron has heard about Joe, he's not sure that the man isn't a millionaire of some kind."

"He owns a company. I've never tried to keep that upon it. His friend actually runs it, so he just basks in the money. Other than his love of keeping his Jeep in top condition and spoiling me, he doesn't live like it. He donated to charities and put me through college the entire way. He made sure I had the money for the long-distance degrees I did while I was in the military. I never wanted for anything, but I did have to rationalize things that were not for my education. I worked when I could for money for gifts for him before I started to get a paycheck from the military." Spencer yawned, and his eyes started to close.

Aaron let Spencer drift off to sleep. They had all the time to talk about Joe Nutter. Aaron had never looked into him, but it seemed that he might need to just to make sure that he didn't put his foot in his mouth. He was sure that Joe was going to be there for the Thanksgiving meal in Little Creek. It was best to be prepared.


	18. Chapter 18

## Chapter 18

### November 2016

Spencer listened as Aaron talked to someone on the phone. Spencer wasn't sure what was going on, but he wasn't that upset at Aaron waking him up.

"No, Sir, he's asleep at the moment. We got back late, and he's not going to go on a run today. We will be spending the day lazy at home." Aaron chuckled a little. "Yes. Joe. No, I know it's just hard."

Spencer rolled over and held out his hand in a waving motion. Aaron batted his hand away, so Spencer sat up in bed and glared at Aaron.

"Well, we do have plans for the day, or at least I think that we do. Spencer mentioned something about it. The kids are at Jessica's, and they will be over for my party later in the day."

Spencer stuck his tongue out at Aaron because he knew that Rory had already spilled the beans about the meal that Spencer was having catered in for Aaron's birthday party. Spencer had worked on the guest list along with Jessica, and they were pretty sure that everyone who Aaron would want there was invited. Spencer knew that Aaron telling him about it was Aaron not wanting to keep up the subterfuge of letting Spencer think that he didn't know.

Pouting at being ignored, Spencer sat up in bed and pushed Aaron back down onto his pillow. Sex was still very vanilla, and it hadn't gone penetrative yet, Spencer was hoping to change that this morning. Spencer kicked the blankets down the bed and let himself look his fill at Aaron's naked body. Aaron had been getting ready for bed when Spencer had pushed him into getting there faster. So they were both just in underwear. The kids weren't at home, so there was no chance of them coming into the room without warning and seeing something that they shouldn't.

"I-" Aaron stopped talking as Spencer moved to sit across Aaron's hips with a grin on his face. Spencer held up a hand and spread the fingers out. He tucked his thumb to his palm before he waited a few seconds and then tucked his pinky in. Aaron got it and nodded his head, but Spencer didn't stop counting down as Aaron told Joe that he was going to have to go. Aaron tossed the phone away just before Spencer curled his pointer finger in on his hand. Wrapping his hands around Spencer's hips, Aaron's fingers rubbed back and forth on the skin there.

Spencer smiled down at him before he dropped to his hands on either side of Aaron's head, bracketing him in. "What did my Dad want?"

"He was trying to get a hold of you to find out about tonight. He was a little shocked to get me. I think he covered well until I told him that I already knew."

"I've known for two weeks that Rory told you," Spencer said. He dipped in to get a kiss from Aaron. "Happy birthday, Aaron."

"Thank you. What do you have planned for me today?"

"Well, I thought that I would let you choose what we do this morning before breakfast, and we grab the kids after."

"What's on offer?" Aaron asked.

"Whatever you want. I don't care what we do. I was hoping for something we hadn't done yet."

Aaron sat up and pulled Spencer down to him, wrapping an arm around Spencer's back. Aaron rolled them both over, and Spencer felt the warmth spread on his back where the bed had been warmed by Aaron's body.

"I got my latest tests back," Aaron said as he started to gently rock his groin against Spencer's.

"Yeah?"

"I'm clean. I know that you are, you got that battery done after getting shot in the neck, and you left them on the kitchen table. They got mixed into a file I was working on. I had read them before I realized what they were."

"That's where they went to. I had them there to stick in my personal medical file, and then it was gone. Then back again later. So what do you want for your birthday?"

Aaron's hands moved from Spencer's sides and then up to Spencer's face. He felt the change in Aaron's body as he thought about what he wanted. Aaron leaned down when his eyes lit up, and there were lips brushing over Spencer's. It felt good, that simple little back and forth.

Spencer felt it, the pull to Aaron, just like he used to get before. That want to be near him, to be held by him. Spencer felt it more now. He felt so much damned more about it all. He sometimes hated going home and leaving Aaron behind. He just wanted to stay in bed with Aaron.

"I want to surround you," Aaron said. He leaned up and moved Spencer how he wanted him. Spencer's legs spread on each side of his hips. Aaron's hands traveled up his thighs before he tugged on the edge of Spencer's underwear. He gripped either side of the seam. "Did you like these?"

"Not that much."

"Good." Aaron ripped them up to his leg before going to the other side and getting that side open as well.

Spencer usually didn't like feats like that, he didn't like doing them, and he didn't like having them done to him. Yet with Aaron, he knew that it wasn't something meant to make Spencer fawn over him. To make Spencer feel safe. Spencer didn't feel safe when having sex. He felt safe when he was sleeping with Aaron. Hands around him, holding him tight while he slept. Aaron worked Spencer's ripped underwear off of him and then worked his own off, leaving them whole. They were naked, and Aaron was looking at him like he was something special. No one had ever looked at him like that before.

"I love you, you know that, right?" Aaron asked.

"And I love you," Spencer said.

Aaron leaned over and grabbed the lube from the drawer beside his bed. He laid it down on the bed beside Spencer's chest. He moved to where he was leaning over Spencer. Spencer tilted his hips to allow it more. He was hard, and they had barely done anything at all. He could feel how hard Aaron was, as well. They were both more than ready for this.

Spencer wasn't sure who moved first, but Aaron was the one who got his hands on Spencer before Spencer could get a hold of the lube to get his own hands on himself.

Aaron slicked up Spencer just enough to where he wasn't going to hurt him as he breached him. Aaron held him with his gaze as he filled him up. Nothing that Spencer had ever done had felt like this. Aaron didn't let up on kissing Spencer. It was like the act of kissing Spencer was what was keeping this feeling so damned good. Aaron wormed a hand under Spencer's neck to tip his head back a little, changing the angle of the kiss but allowing Aaron to change the angle of his thrusts a little. It felt damned good.

Spencer couldn't find purchase on Aaron's back, they were both slick with sweat, and his hands just slid down, so Spencer allowed them. Stopping at the swell of Aaron's ass, Spencer enjoyed the feel of his muscles working with every single thrust inside of him.

"I love you," Spencer whispered into Aaron's ear when he finally did break the kiss. Aaron didn't stop kissing him all the way through, his lips pressed kisses down Spencer's cheek and then his neck. Spencer was hanging by a thread, and he was so damned close that he figured if Aaron moved sharply or changed his rhythm, Spencer was going to come. "I'm close."

"Then come for me," Aaron said, his tone breathless.

Spencer jerked his head to the side and reached up to grab Aaron's head to pull him back into a fervent kiss. Spencer kept the kiss going through his orgasm, it was a slow crest, like the natural progression of the lovemaking they were doing. Aaron didn't last long after Spencer, the feelings creeping up inside of him. He controlled himself despite Spencer figuring that he would lose control a little. Aaron shuddered through his orgasm, thrusting until he was probably too sensitive. Spencer locked his legs around Aaron and held him tight when it seemed like Aaron was going to move away from him.

"I can breathe just fine," Spencer said. It was shallow breaths but more than enough oxygen for him at the moment. He was trained to make the most of every single breath. "I was top of the class at BUD/S for a reason Aaron, and not all of it had to do with the training that Dad gave me. I couldn't be anything but it, because I had to make it."

"I'm learning that about you." Aaron braced himself up on his elbows. He rubbed his nose on Spencer's for a few seconds before stretching up to kiss his forehead. "You don't like to come in second in things that matter."

"Second means that someone can think I am weak. Second, means that I set myself up for more issues. It wasn't long before it was leaked by Edgerton that I was a Navy man at the Academy, but at least it was kept that I was a SEAL out."

"Why? I've always wanted to ask, but we were never alone when I thought of it." Aaron moved a little, his cock slipping out of Spencer, but he stayed where he was.

"Bullies are assholes who go after who they think is the weakest link or who they think they can control. I didn't want to be that kind of target."

"Your dad told me about high school, everything. He said that it wasn't his right to tell it, but as his father, he wanted to make sure that I knew what could come from LEOs on cases bullying you. He didn't quite trust me to take care of you, even if we were more than just co-workers."

"Dad's a mother hen, and while I wouldn't change him, it's a little strange sometimes to deal with. I've been with him longer than I have been with my birth parents, but still, it's very strange to be mother henned."

"Joe seems like he loves few things in the world, and he's attached as hell to you. The kids love him, even if they treat him with kid gloves given the cane that he uses. That's probably my fault, I made sure they both knew exactly what that meant with an older lady that lived down the street. That they couldn't run into her no matter what."

"He's getting older, so roughhousing is probably not something that he should be doing anyway." Spencer pushed up to where he was on his elbows as well, kissing Aaron lightly. It felt damned good to do that. "We should probably shower so we can get breakfast and pick up the munchkins. It's too cold for top-down so we can take your SUV."

The shower took a lot longer than it usually did. Aaron wasn't upset by that by any stretch of the imagination. Aaron knew that he had done something during sex that had been different for Spencer, but Spencer was still cataloging it in his head. It was never good to push him as Spencer was a stubborn asshole when he wanted to be. Dave had learned that the hard way and that Spencer gave as good as he was given. Aaron still laughed when he thought about Dave's remarks about the professional level edit Spencer had laid down on his manuscript for his latest novel. Aaron had also heard the comments made by Dave's actual editor and how she had praised it and wanted to know who got a hold of Dave's novel before and if they could poach him. Dave had lobbed that back to Spencer, but it had not ended well at all. Now Spencer was on tap to get a hold of Dave's novels before his actual editor that would change things to the house style for the company. Spencer wasn't getting paid for that, his wages were going to the Wounded Warrior Project.

"Hey, where are you?" Spencer asked as he wrapped his arms around Aaron from behind.

"Just thinking about random stuff."

"Random stuff that has to do with me? You got that soft smile on his lips that you get when you are thinking about me."

"You watch my face too much," Aaron said as he turned around in Spencer's arms.

"I like watching your face. You are very expressive with few movements of muscles." Spencer leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to Aaron's lips. "Besides, you don't smile near enough at work, so I like seeing you smile as much as I can outside of it."

"I have to be harder at work most of the time. Downtime is one thing, but-" Aaron stopped when he saw the smile on Spencer's lips. "And you were not commenting on my Hotch persona."

"Aaron, I understand it well. I was an Officer. I was Team Mom, yes, but I was also the meanest mother in the world to those guys. I pushed them to their limits in everything that did because I had to know what their breaking point was. I had to be the worst thing in the world to them to get what I needed. I know precisely what you do when you are Hotch at work."

"Let's go before I decide that breakfast is something from a drive-thru, and we are going to go back up to bed."

Spencer let go of Aaron but not before his look changed to something that was best for the bedroom. Aaron looked at the clock, they didn't have time for anything more than just handjobs, so it wasn't worth it.

"We can just save that for tonight. I know exactly what we are going to do."

"Yeah?" Aaron asked.

"And that will be the last gift that I give you today."

"Hey," Aaron pulled Spencer back to him when he turned to head out the door. "I don't need presents."

"I know, and don't worry, I don't spend a ton of money on gifts unless it's the sentiment that counts more than the price. I have had your gift picked out for weeks. You'll love it, don't worry."

Aaron let the hand he had on Spencer tug him out of the door toward where the SUV was warming up. There was a chill in the not long after dawn hours, and the heaters had been on, so the frost on the windshields was all gone. Aaron had forgotten to move the SUV into the garage for the night. Spencer's Jeep was in there already, but they had been in a rush, and the clicker for the garage had been inside of the garage when they had taken the kids out the day before. The battery had needed to be replaced, and it had just never made it back inside. Aaron wasn't that worried about grabbing it now. They would move the Jeep out later as the garage was going to be used as the main bathroom for everyone at the party. Aaron had heard Spencer talking to JJ about that before.

Looking at Spencer, Aaron watched him get dressed to head out, a thick purple scarf wrapped around his neck before he got into his jacket, a thick, black wool coat was next. Spencer got chilled easily when he was out in the weather, despite having lived in Virginia for years, he spent too much time in Vegas and California and then the deserts and the jungles of the world to adapt well to the winters in Virginia.

"So, waffles?" Spencer asked as he slipped into the driver's seat of the SUV while Aaron was locking the door behind him, throwing the deadbolt.

Aaron preferred to drive most of the time, but Spencer was very capable of driving. Aaron had seen him on the course a few weeks before helping with tactical driving. The truck used for it had been nearly entirely destroyed by the end of it, but it had still worked. Aaron had been hard almost the entire time as he had watched Spencer chase a suspect car around the closed driving course. Then Spencer had been the one in the suspect car, and none of the trainees or the teachers had been able to actually catch him before he hit the edge, which was the point where all surveillance was lost, and the suspect got away. Aaron could see the military precision in everything that he did.

"Sure," Aaron said as he slipped into the passenger seat of the SUV. Spencer just grinned at him and backed out of the driveway. Spencer's favorite place was waffles was a dive bar type place that served wonderful everything. One of his Navy friends had told him about it after they had found years before while stationed in DC for something. The place looked run down, but the inside looked wonderful. Soft earthy tones were on everything. The booths were all soft and comfortable. There were no tables, just three rows of booths, and enough room for wheelchairs at the ends of the booths in the middle. It was a waste of space really as they could have packed more tables in, but they kept up enough business that Aaron understood they didn't need it.

Waffles were the only menu item, other than the other typical breakfast staples, and one Saturday, they did a pancake breakfast. Aaron had been to that once before with the kids and Spencer.

"Over here, sweet cheeks," the waitress called out as soon as Spencer and Aaron entered the place. There was already a carafe of coffee on the table and no menus. Aaron laughed as that meant they were there too much, but it was the best breakfast place that Aaron had ever eaten at. Eating out wasn't something that Aaron like to do that much given how much he ate out while on cases. It wasn't the best option in the world as sometimes he was just too tired to cook dinner for him and the kids. Though with Spencer around, they halved the work, including helping Jack do the dishes as it was part of his chores in the house now that he was big enough to reach the sink comfortably.

"So, we eat here too much, huh?" Spencer asked as he poured out a cup of coffee for him and for Aaron.

"Yes, but I have no issues with that." Aaron took the cup when Spencer handed it to him. He stretched out his feet and tangled his legs with Spencer's. Spencer looked at him with a smile on his face, and Aaron saw again that bit of hesitancy at what he was doing.

Aaron knew that he was Spencer's first serious relationship. Spencer had been more than willing to discuss everything that he had done before as far as relationships went, and really it was nothing. Encounters that were nothing but wholly sex were very different than waking up in bed with someone night after night, sharing meals and pain, and just talking to them. That Spencer was willing to throw in for the entire relationship right off the bat had been a shock to Aaron once they had talked about their past relationships. Spencer had already known about Aaron's those had come out fairly early one.

Spencer loved Jack and Rory and outside of the crush that Rory still held for Spencer treated them no different. Spencer didn't buy them gifts to buy their affection, he saw things that were educational that were also fun and bought them. Aaron knew that Spencer was smart as fuck. There was nothing else to use to describe him and how smart he was. The years in the military had just sharpened that intelligence into something to be feared. Aaron knew that he looked at everything through that eye, but he was getting better at seeing the softer side of things on cases. Still, it was that mindset that was a good one for the team and had helped a few times with dealing with people who were raised by military fathers.

"So far, a good birthday?" Spencer asked after he took a long drink of his coffee. It was perfect enough that he didn't need to add anything to it. Aaron, though, added just a touch of sugar to it. It was one of the better coffees that Aaron had ever drunk at a restaurant.

"So far. The party might be the end of it, though."

"It will be fine. There is already a kibosh on gifts from anyone that isn't your kids. You'll get a card along with cash to donate to whatever charity you want. That was the rule when I sent out the invites."

Aaron wasn't shocked by that. Spencer wasn't a big gift receiver, and Aaron had admitted that he wasn't either. This was better, just friends and family together. It was going to be a lot of fun, Aaron knew that, but he hadn't been looking forward to gifts. The gifts from Jack and Rory would be fine, Aaron was used to those. Jessica probably got him a tie that she found that she liked, and that was the usual gift and had been since Aaron had married Haley. Jessica took her time with the ties. Aaron knew that sometimes she found them early in the year, but sometimes it was late as well. Christmas was a pair of cuff links with random Celtic symbols on them, usually silver. Aaron loved every single thing that he got from her. It was more than enough to show that she cared. Aaron gave her a gift certificate to a spa for her birthday and then an overnight stay at a spa resort. It was two days of pampering as well as a paid drive to and from the place. Aaron had begun that after he had heard her talking to Haley about a friend that had gone to a place like it, and she liked the idea but would be too blissed out to drive home, and it would ruin the mood.

The talk was simple over breakfast, nothing too serious. Aaron loved mornings like this, even if they weren't at home piled on the couch with legs crossed while they sipped coffee and let breakfast digest. It was a damned good way to spend his birthday morning.

* * *

Aaron heard the gate on the fence squeak again and looked over to see that it was Savannah and Morgan along with Hank coming into the backyard. Aaron smiled at Garrett and waved toward Morgan. Garrett just laughed and turned to talk to his wife.

"Morgan," Aaron said as he stepped closer for a handshake.

"Hey, Hotch. Happy birthday. This is...a shindig and a half." Morgan's eyes were moving around the backyard that had been turned into a party. There was a large fire pit that Aaron had no clue where it had come from in the middle of the yard, and Aaron was sure that the heaters were borrowed. It was beautiful, though, and with dark in full swing, it made it seem half haunted.

"So which one is the guy who replaced Derek?" Savannah asked. She was looking around, and her eyes were taking in the strangers that were all around.

"Him," Morgan said, pointing at where Spencer was walking around with Rory on his shoulders. She was shaking everyone's hands from there, making them laugh. "Rory took to him very quickly."

"Do you remember when I was stationed overseas after Boston?" Aaron asked.

"Yes."

"I was working with his team. We shared a room since there were a lot of officers, and he was in one of the bigger rooms. Rory and Jack talked to him on occasion. It wasn't hard for him to get attached to her, either."

"How does he fit in?"

"Well, despite his size, he's our door kicker down now. He's also good at chasing them down as well."

"Officer?" Savannah asked.

"Captain Spencer Reid," Aaron said.

"Oh, what branch?"

"Navy," Morgan answered.

Aaron looked to see Spencer and Rory weaving their way to them.

"Uncle Derek!" Rory near screeched, but she didn't seem too interested in getting down off of Spencer's shoulders. "You have to meet my Spencer."

"Sure, Rory." Morgan turned to them full-on, and Aaron saw his eyes looking at Spencer's neck, right where Aaron had left a big hickey from their afternoon make-out session in the kitchen while the kids had been picking their outfits for the night.

"Spencer, this is Uncle Derek. He used to be on Daddy's team before you and his wife Vannah and their baby Hank. Uncle Derek, Aunt Vannah, Hank, this is my Spencer."

Aaron kept his lips pressed together as he watched the way that Spencer was introduced come over Morgan's face. Morgan was fully used to her, but she was a little hyper at the moment.

"It's wonderful to meet you, Spencer," Savannah said as she held out her hand.

"Same here," Spencer said. He held out his hand to Morgan next. "Wonderful choice for the night for young Hank." Spencer nodded his head to where Morgan was wearing Hank strapped to his chest with a sling.

"Yeah, he likes it, and it's just cool enough that being outside for a long while would make him too cold using just his own body heat and a blanket." Morgan pulled the zipper on his coat down to where all of Hank was visible.

"He's adorable. You guys get an O in baby-making."

Jack giggled as he pushed Aaron over to slip beside him. "Spencer, they won't get that."

"Hey, now. Mister Jack. I know what the grading system in Harry Potter is," Savannah said with a laugh. Jack laughed again, as well.

"You'll have to tell me all about it later, Jack," Morgan said. He crouched down so that Jack could reach out and touch Hank's face a little. The baby was still dead asleep to the world, but it at least didn't wake him up.

"Spencer. Grandpa Joe asked me to ask you if it was time for food. He's hungry."

Spencer laughed and turned around to find where his father was.

"Yeah, let's go and see if the caterers have the meal ready or not." Spencer held out his hand, and Jack took it before they headed into the kitchen.

"Caterers?" Morgan asked. His head moved to where he could watch Spencer crouching down and then entering the house with Rory still on his shoulders. "Hotch?"

Morgan's voice pulled Aaron back to looking at him. Savannah was lured over to where JJ, Callahan, and Garcia were talking near the snack table.

"Sorry. What did you say?"

"I said caterers. You've never had that before for any party you throw."

"That's because I wasn't the one that planned this. This was Jessica, Jack, Rory, and the master of planning it seems in Spencer."

"Spencer," Morgan said.

"Spencer and I have been together for months."

"Hotch."

"Dave takes care of anything that he needs to that I can't. We've been open about the relationship from the first moment. Spencer knew it from the moment he joined. He already had the Director set up and knowledgeable as it seemed Richmond is the one that headhunted him after he was injured out of the Navy."

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I don't think you pushed him into it. I just..." Morgan looked at the kitchen. Aaron followed his gaze.

Spencer was bouncing up and down a little, making Rory laugh. Her smile was huge as she said something to the caterers who were set up in Aaron's kitchen. The meal was simple, and it had been kept warm in his oven and the cold things in the fridge since they had arrived twenty minutes before.

"You look happy, and I'm glad that you are happy, but you were happy with Beth, and then everything happened with that. Your kids are attached."

"He knew about Haley and everything to do with that long before. It's funny, you know. We met in passing when Haley was around four months pregnant. He was the one who helped stabilize her until she was picked up by the EMTs. He heard what she yelled at me that day, as well."

"Damn. So he knows most of the dirty secrets, doesn't he?" Morgan asked.

"Yes. He's still a little damaged from what put him out of the Navy, but we do okay. He has nights after cases where he knows he's not fit to be around the kids and me, but those days don't last long, and he's fine. Nightmares that don't go away and he's dealing. It's not perfect, but then with my life, perfect isn't what I want. I thought I had perfect, but it wasn't."

"I'm just glad you are happy. Rory's a good judge of character, so I think you are just fine there. She made sure that you knew that when Beth started to treat her weird. You are raising them well, Hotch. Despite everything."

"I love them, and I'll just about anything for them."

"We knew that the moment that Jack was born. Then Haley died, and you took in Rory. That told us everything else we ever needed to know."

"I was worried about raising Jack right until I found him with his sister hiding in my old office in the house. He told me that he worked the case and protected Rory. That was what he did. He went and got Rory from where ever Haley had put her. He wanted to be like me so much that he stopped to get his sister." Aaron looked and found Jack chasing after Henry and Roslyn, who was screaming her head off as she was chased. Aaron had found it so damned funny that JJ had her kids in the order that she had them given Aaron's. Though both of Aaron's were older than even Henry and Spencer had already gone over the numbers and how it wasn't that big of a coincidence at all. When there were only two options for a second child, it was a fifty-fifty, and that meant nothing.

"What's that look?" Morgan asked.

"What look?"

"Man, I wasn't around for the heyday of your life with Haley, but you used to look like that when you were talking about Haley. Were you thinking about Reid?"

"Yeah. Just something he babbled about once is all. He can go off on tangents."

"I met him when he was in the Academy. I went out to get drinks with Edgerton since he was in town. And Edgerton pulled Reid along with him. It was a fun night. I learned more about things that I never wanted to know about how the various alcohols we now drink were made back in the day."

"See, that's the part that Jack and Rory love. The strange things that he knows. They love stumping him."

"I can see that."

"Are you happy, Derek?" Aaron asked.

"I am. I really am. I thought I would have issues leaving behind the team, but Garcia drops by and JJ's around with Will. I see everyone enough, but you and I were never that close, and I had to admit that I can't understand why you never left when Haley died."

"You have a son who you feel you need to be around to keep him safe. I feel like I need to be out there protecting Jack from anything ever getting to him again. We all protect in different ways."

"I understand."

"Derek, you have got to try this!" Savannah yelled across the yard.

Aaron looked up to see that she was by the snack table. She had a small plate of food in her hand. "Go be with your wife. I'm sure we will have time to talk again later."

Morgan nodded and headed toward her. Aaron looked at everyone else who was there. He saw that Joe was seated off by himself and was looking at everyone. Aaron made his way toward him. Joe gave him a smile as he sat down and reached down and picked up a beer. He offered it over to Aaron. It was still sealed, so probably one for after he finished the one that he was on.

"You know, he has never thrown a party before," Joe said.

"Really?" Aaron looked around. For not having thrown one before Spencer had done well.

"Yeah. He never really went to them either. One single frat party at a college close to Caltech when he was an adult. He wasn't old enough to drink, but I came and got him when the night was done. He was pretty good, only had a few. I was happy that he hadn't drunk himself to sickness. It was a good night for me. I knew that Spencer wasn't giving into peer pressure. He was a good kid, and I knew that no matter what kind of parenting he had got before me, I had done well in raising him after that."

"You have raised one of the finest meant that I know, Joe. Don't ever let anyone else tell you that."

"You are biased."

"I knew that long before he and I started a relationship. I knew that when I heard him yelling at his team for doing stupid shit that could have got them and others hurt. He told me that he was Team Mom. You don't do that and not be a good man."

"You are right. Still, I feel proud of him and happy that he found you. He said he never wanted kids or a relationship. I knew that he thought that it was the way that he wanted, but I could just feel that he was going to need more than that. He had the team, the men he called his family and they were good enough for a while, but after you left over there, he changed. Slowly. You changed him after such a brief meeting."

"You know most parents don't want their kids working in the BAU."

"Most parents don't want their kids to be SEALs. I want him happy, and if he can't chase the terrorists that are plaguing the world, he can at least chase sick, twisted fuckers who kill here at home. That's enough for me. Well, that and seeing him happy.

"FOOD!" Jack screamed.

The caterers carried the food out to the area where it was supposed to be set up. There were Sterno heaters already set up and waiting for the hot food while the cold stuff already had iced pans waiting. Aaron had no clue what was on the menu for the night as he hadn't been allowed in the kitchen to see what it was. He swore he smelled steak.

"Birthday boy, you gotta get yours first." Spencer was waving his arms like Aaron, wouldn't be able to see him or Rory, who was still on his shoulders. Aaron marveled that he was able to hold her up like that for as long as he had been. Aaron knew that Spencer worked out still. As much as he could. Still, Spencer was a beast when it came to things like running. He kept track with Aaron and actually pushed him to run faster for the morning runs that they went one when Spencer stayed over.

Spencer was up before Aaron every morning, doing push-ups and other things long before Aaron rolled out of bed and got ready to run. He would take to the track at work sometimes when he was stuck on a consult for a case. Aaron hated it and loved it. He always came back dressed in his running gear and would change out after he wrote down whatever he thought of while running before he actually changed.

It was a floor show that every single heterosexual female, as well as everyone who was bisexual, and all of the gay men loved. Aaron would feel jealous, but Spencer only had eyes for him. Yeah, Spencer looked at some people when they were out and about, but he never did more than look. It was as if no one else existed. Aaron really liked that. It made him feel good. He knew that Spencer wasn't the type to stray. He took all vows seriously, even if it was just one to be faithful.

"Hey," Spencer said as Aaron got closer to him. He had a big grin on his face. "So medium, right?"

"Steak?" Aaron asked, but the caterers lifted the lids on the food, and Aaron saw placards that listed what each tray was as far as the meat went. Aaron grabbed a plate and started down the line to get food. It was all pretty much Aaron's favorite side dishes. It was a good spread.

Aaron was happy with the food. The steak was cooked wonderfully. He smiled as Spencer settled on the end of his lounger like he did when they were outside. There were only about twenty people there, and the extra chairs were a blessing. Everyone was scattered around to where Aaron could see them all, and he didn't have to yell to talk. The kids were all at a table by themselves, and they were having fun with the meal that was being dropped off to them. Aaron saw that it was the same as the adults, but the steak was already cut up, and all of it was cooked a little more. Aaron laughed as he saw the little drinks that had umbrellas in them like the ones that were being served from the bar.

"This is a good spread, Reid," Dave said as he dropped down into the chair beside Aaron. He had three beers in his hand. He handed one to Aaron and then the other to Spencer.

Aaron saw that it was a really good brand. He pulled the cap off and took a swig. Aaron really didn't want to know how much money Spencer had spent on this.

"You know, I know that I said as long as the trust fund that I have for you wasn't being wasted on porn and women, I would be happy. But this is a pretty big shindig for a simple birthday party." Joe said as he dropped into the seat on the other side of Aaron.

"Birthdays should be celebrated if the person likes to, and I thought that this would be a good way to get to know Aaron's friend that isn't on the team. It was a two for one. It's better than me trying to put in another party randomly between cases and the holidays that are coming up."

"I'm shocked you didn't throw a Halloween gig," Joe said.

"That's next year."

"Halloween?" JJ asked.

"Halloween is Spencer's favorite holiday. He used to hand out candy and make the whole house up to look scary or funny, whatever he was feeling that year. Kids used to love it. I have bought and given away more Halloween decorations than any other over the course of my years with Spencer."

"You are familiar," Dave said.

"Retired Navy, Mister Rossi. Probably saw me at some shindig over the years for veterans. I donate heavily to them."

"No, something else." Dave looked confused.

"Or the company Christmas party for Hastings Holdings nine years ago. You needed to find a serial killer and came to talk to my CEO. I knew who you were and when he called me and asked, I told him to add all of your team to the list so you could find who was using my company to find and kill people."

"You are that Joe Nutter?" Dave asked.

"I am." Dave looked at Spencer, who just grinned at him.

Spencer loved it when people figured out who his Dad was. Either as a SEAL or as a guy with a lot of money. It had never been a big deal to Spencer. He had enough money from the trust and the little bit of work that he did on occasion for Hastings Holdings. A few hours of trolling through financials to find where someone was skimming money had earned him a lot. It had saved them a lot of money, and with that, Spencer had earned more money. The trust was managed well by one of the top firms in the country. He could never work another day in his life, and he would be set, even with his book habit.

Still, Spencer was happy that Aaron allowed Spencer to do this. Spencer knew that Aaron had money. Probably not nearly as much as Spencer, but then Spencer had never seen Aaron's financials. The people who tracked that at the FBI had been well-read in on Spencer's money and how his father liked to dote on him with cars. Spencer figured that someone at the FBI was going to groan every single time they watched his financials. He was sure that a few of them were going to start to hate his name.

"Wait, you are the genius kid that he rescued from horrible parents?" Rossi asked.

"What?" Joe asked.

"In the file that we made up on you for the case. You had taken in a child after moving in next door. The kid was at military training, so we weren't that worried about him. You were clean as you were in California at the time, and the killings were not there. You hadn't even been around there anywhere close. We just brushed it all off. We never paid any attention to the kid at all." Rossi looked at Spencer like he was seeing him for the first time. "You really don't need that money, do you? From editing my book and any after."

"No. My trust is well handled. I could keep myself in books for the rest of my life, even at the speed that I read and be fine."

"Your mom was still alive."

"Yes, and I am not talking to you about her."

Rossi nodded his head and backed off. The conversation turned to other things and then more things after that. Spencer ate his food and listened to everyone talking around him. Rory came over to cuddle as the night got longer, and she fell asleep on Spencer before he carried her up to her bed. Spencer took her shoes off, slipping them into the rack where the rest of them were.

Rory immediately moved up the bed, even over half asleep as she was. She was in a long skirt, so Spencer grabbed her sleep pants that were at the side of the bed. She had picked them out that morning, her favorite ones, just in case she was made to change into them before she wanted to go to bed. Spencer had changed out some of his guys out of tactical gear and into others when they were knocked out or just drunk off of their asses. He didn't figure that a child would be worse than them.

Once Spencer had the pants up enough, he worked the zipper free on the skirt and pulled it off. He then quickly pulled Rory's shirt off and then put on the tank top that she slept in. He laid her down and pulled the covers out to cover her up. Spencer brushed the hair out of her eyes where it had fallen.

Spencer heard the sounds of someone walking up to the door. "I never wanted kids, but I thought that one day when I got older, and I wasn't in the military for one reason or another, I would adopt a kid. Be like Joe. The company is mine when Dad's gone, and while I hope that's a long time from now, he's not a young man. Then Aaron came into my life. I started to fall for him when we were overseas together. I became enamored with him from afar, and I knew that he had kids."

"Why are you telling me this?" Rossi asked.

"You worry about him. Everyone on the team does, and I know you all have been a little more worried about me since you've got to know me better. He might be my first relationship, but I don't want to ever be away from him." Spencer made sure that the blankets were up to Rory's chin before he got up from the bed. He turned on her night light and then turned off the main light in the room. He pulled the door mostly shut but reached in and turned on the monitor that was inside. Rory was down to about one nightmare a week, and Jack was probably half that. With everyone around, Spencer felt better with a monitor so that he could hear if she woke up. He walked to Aaron's bedroom and grabbed the one that was in there. He turned it on and slipped it into his pocket.

Rossi was still standing at the end of the hall where Rory's room was.

"You are good for him," Rossi said.

"I'm glad because I really think he's good for me."

"You know that sometimes the best thing in the world comes into your lap at the worst moment in the world. For you both, that was when you were still in the military, and your job and his clashed. Then you left the military and then went right to him. Unless you two are so horrible for each other that it's the worst thing in the world, we aren't going to say a single thing. You make Aaron happy, that's all that we want."

Spencer gave Rossi a smile.

"So let's go outside and enjoy the party that you put together. Which I do have to say is a good one."

"It was mostly Jessica. I found the caters and picked the food. Jessica helped me with the decorations. My buddy Rivera drove the heaters up, and I'll fun them back this weekend with Dad. Unless a case comes up and then, Dad will take them back alone."

"Your Dad's gotta be happy to have you home more. Right?" Rossi asked.

"Happy to have me home more, yes. That also means that I get to nag him more about the lifestyle choices that are going to keep him around a little longer."

"All boys want to keep their father's around if they are good. He knows you do it out of love."

Spencer saw Aaron look up at him as soon as he left the house. Aaron seemed to always know where he was in the room. It always made Spencer feel so damned good. He was so damned happy that he had saved his great love for this, for Aaron.


	19. Chapter 19

## Chapter 19

### January 2017

Spencer groaned as he rolled over in bed and tried to find his phone. He remembered reading something on it in the middle of the night when he hadn't been able to sleep after his nightmare. The ringer stopped before Spencer was able to get up and find it nestled in the sheets on the bed. He saw that it was a missed call from Aaron's work phone. Spencer dropped back onto the bed and reached down to massage his leg. He groaned in pain at the phantom ache that was there. He had died in his nightmare. Died from his wounds taken in that last mission he had gone on. Died with the sight of the base in his eyes as Kellett hadn't been able to carry him, and the medics on base hadn't been able to get to him in time. It was a horrible dream, but one that was still hanging on over a year later.

Firing off a text to his psychologist, Spencer asked for an after-hours appointment when he was done with whatever case he was being pulled in on. Stan would text back later to tell him the days that he was available after four days from them. It was the longest time that most cases took. There were ones that took longer, but it at least gave Spencer time to settle on. He would keep it all loose. That was the reason that he had after-hours appointments. There were a few military or federal agents that had appointments like that. It was better than constantly having to cancel them and Stan missing out on actually making money time and again.

A shower was the only thing that was going to wake him up all the way, so Spencer got up to get ready. He pressed the button to call Aaron back.

"Hotchner," Aaron answered.

"Hey. Sorry. My phone was hiding in my bed, and I couldn't find it."

"Meet at the office as soon as you can."

"Not the jet?" Spencer asked. He had never had a call when they were out of office hours where they met at Quantico and not the jet.

"It's local, so we are going to be working out of the offices."

"How local?"

"Local to Quantico."

"Gotcha. I'll still pack a bag to stay on base."

"That's a good idea. I'll have JJ text the team. Base housing isn't that bad, and we can not have that travel time. JJ and Callahan and still move back and forth because of the kids. Jessica can bring Rory and Jack here after school, and we can try and do dinner with them."

"Or they can stay at the house down here in Quantico."

"What?" Aaron asked.

Spencer put his phone on speaker and entered the bathroom. He laid it down away from the sink and started to get ready to shave. He looked at himself in the mirror and decided that he wasn't going to.

"Dad recently bought it. It's small, only a two-bedroom, but the kid's room is set up with bunk beds for Jack and Rory. He called it an investment on us not having to go far just in case local cases had us staying on base, and I didn't want to. I don't mind it sometimes, but I really hate base living. He's working on getting the office on the ground floor renovated to be another bedroom. Jessica can take the pull out couch, the kids in their room, and we can take the master bedroom. Or we can take the pullout and Jessica the master bedroom."

"How many houses does your father own?"

"I have no clue, and I don't really worry about him buying more. He hates hotels really so any place he foresees staying for a while, he's going to buy or at least lease a house. He'll probably open up the place to have a family of soldiers to stay while visiting and such, just like the one in Little Creek. Hell, he probably writes it off as a donation."

"Or Joe can stay with them," Aaron ventured.

Spencer was just reaching for the hem of his shirt that he had slept in and looked at the phone even though Aaron couldn't see the look on his face.

"What?"

"They have wanted a sleepover with Joe."

"Yes."

"Friday is a day off for the kids because of a teacher in-service day or something like that. I remember Jessica telling me. Joe can take them to and from school, right? He can pick them up today and then head down to Quantico. We can make sure to get dinner with them there. It won't be too much, will it?"

"Well, I do want to warn you that if you ask him once, he'll keep on offering. He adores the fuck out of those kids and takes his role as Grandpa Joe very seriously. I'll leave a note for him to call when he wakes up, and we can discuss it."

"He's already added to the list of people who can pick the kids up from school. He'll have to show ID, but I don't think he'll have an issue with that. Jessica, while she loves watching the kids, will be happy to have someone else."

"I'm sure that she would be. They might start to get in fights though on who watches them and when."

Aaron laughed a little. "Get ready, and I'll pick you up if you want. Jessica is on her way."

"Sure. See you soon."

"Bye."

Spencer reached over and hit the end button on the call. Aaron had a key, and he knew the alarm code. He would be able to let himself in when he got there if Spencer took longer than he usually did.

Dressing in a good suit, Spencer looked at himself in the mirror on his closet. He wasn't sure if he liked the sort of growth on his face, but he would play with it. He had always shaved every single day, but that had been rules and regulations and just not wanting to deal. When on a mission, he sometimes didn't if it was needed or there wasn't the ability if they were in the field for long times, and then it was something that Spencer didn't like because he should be smooth. Now, he could make the choices that he wanted. He didn't like his hair longer, he had found that out during his months getting better. He did like it at the longer end of what was allowed by the Navy, so he kept it there with weekly trips to a barber that was close to the base. It was long enough that Aaron could get a hold but not so long that it bothered Spencer. Aaron seemed to like it where it was as well, so that was another reason to keep it.

The smell of food assaulted Spencer's nose when he left his bedroom. The smell hadn't entered the room since Spencer had it shut, and the carpet at the bottom was just high enough there that it made a good seal. It also stopped light from escaping the bottom. A countermeasure that Spencer knew well was still part of his hyper-vigilance of his PTSD.

"Dad?" Spencer called out as he walked down the stairs.

Joe was standing at the stove with three plates on the counter beside him. He had to have heard Spencer's conversation with Aaron.

"I already texted Aaron not to eat before he came that he was going to come in and get a good meal in him before you guys traipse off. I remember you discussing with me that local cases always seemed to be the worst as you always tell yourself you'll eat, but you never do. So sit and get some coffee." Joe pointed at the table over his shoulder with the spatula in his hand.

Spencer sat down at the table and grabbed the carafe to pour out some coffee for himself.

The sound of the door opening had Spencer laying his hand over his gun in his shoulder holster until he recognized the sound of Aaron's keys dropping onto the table beside the door. Seconds later, Aaron was slipping into the kitchen.

"You didn't have to do this," Aaron said as he sat down and grabbed the coffee.

Spencer kept his smile to himself as Joe had probably texted him the same thing that he had said to Spencer.

"I was up anyway. The ringing on Spencer's phone echoes in the house no matter what we do and what he changes the ringtone to. For it to be able to wake him up if he's dead asleep, I hear it. He's always been a heavy sleeper when at home."

Spencer nodded his head in agreement. He was a heavy sleeper if he was having a good night's sleep. Last night had been anything but. It was why he had left Aaron's house when he would rather stay. He didn't need to hurt Aaron or the kids if they tried to sleep in bed with them from their own nightmares. Kids were resilient, but Spencer didn't ever want to scare them like that. He also didn't want them to fear him because he hurt their father. He never wanted that.

Joe divided up the food and laid the plates down in front of them all before he refilled the carafe with coffee from the pot. Spencer dug in despite his stomach not feeling up to it. He ate as much as he normally did and then stopped, taking sips of his coffee while Aaron ate a second helping of potatoes and eggs.

"Ready?" Aaron asked when he finally finished off his breakfast. The sun still wasn't even up in the sky.

"Here," Joe said as he handed over two travel mugs, filled with coffee. He handed Aaron one and then Spencer, eyeing the logo on each. Spencer's had the Trident on it, and Aaron's was the FBI logo. It was one way to tell them apart. "Should be a good temperature to drink in the next half an hour. Keep you going in the early hours."

"Thanks, Dad," Spencer said as Aaron said his own thanks.

Aaron was driving his new sport SUV, needing more cargo space than he had in his previous one for soccer stuff, so he had traded in for a slightly smaller one, but it only had a single row of seats in the back instead of two like his previous one. Spencer liked it and settled into the front seat before buckling in.

"What do we know?"

"Two bodies in Quantico so far, abducted from DC and dropped in Quantico. Federal agents. So the Director took the case from the locals, who really are happy to hand it over and not have to deal with the logistics of the whole thing. We are still working with them for the local stuff, but we have the ability to get more information on what their jobs were."

"So...FBI?"

"No. One was homeland security, and the other was a low-level analyst for the CIA. There is a third body, but it's being held for us to look at to confirm that it's part of this or someone just striking at the wrong time."

"What do you mean?"

"The first body was dropped on Saturday, second on Monday. Skip two days, and we have today. Found on a running trail around Quantico, just like the other two victims were. Different jogger but knows the others. Had an eye out. As soon as they saw the body, they called the cops in Quantico."

"So potentially three bodies," Spencer ventured.

"Yes. I want you to go to the new body. I'm going to stay and talk to the cops at Quantico. JJ is going to work on what we are going to release to the press. Dave is going to go to the ME to see about the first two bodies. Callahan to the first dumpsite and Anderson to the second. We are going to spread thin. JJ will have an SUV for you as soon as you get there. If you wanna head out instead of meeting to discuss the case, you can."

"I have a Bluetooth headset with me for the work phone. I'll listen in as I drive. How far out is it?"

"It's the furthest out we have found. Two miles out a path that has no vehicle access other than ATV, and we don't want to use that in case it covers tracks so you'll go in on foot."

"I'll jog it, and yes, I'll head out as soon as I get there."

Spencer wondered at the victims, but he needed to see the newest to understand if it was one or not. Aaron handed over a tablet from the pocket on his door, and Spencer logged in with his credentials, and he found the files for the first two victims as well as the start on the third. Spencer could see why they were taking their time to link the third. It was placed way out, further in the woods around Quantico than any other body. It was a trail that Spencer knew many on the base ran as it was ten miles from start to finish. It was kept up by soldiers who needed a change of scenery from the base. Spencer tuned out Aaron's driving as he studied what was there in the file. The images are god, better than just plain ones as he could zoom in on them, but the files, he would need paper ones to deal with as soon a possible, he retained them better.

"Here," Aaron said.

Spencer looked up at where they were. Aaron was stopped beside an SUV with Steve from the motor pool standing beside it. Steve had files in his hand.

"Do you want to look at the paper files while Steve drives?" Aaron asked.

"Yes. That works." Spencer grabbed his messenger bag that was in the back. He hadn't even noticed Aaron grabbing it. He had planned on asking Joe to bring it down. Spencer waved the tablet, and Aaron nodded his head. Spencer wasn't even sure who's it was, his or Aaron's. They were precisely the same, and they both had the habit of logging them totally out when done with them. He wouldn't be shocked to find that they constantly swapped them. Aaron would just grab the one from Spencer's desk to use.

"You have both guns on you, yes?" Aaron didn't sound worried, he was just checking that his agent had everything that was needed to do his job.

"Nearly always, Aaron, and you know that."

"I know I just...this case feels weird, and I can't put my finger on it."

"It's too close to home. Not where we live home but where we work home, and it's wrong. We work at the FBI, in the middle of a base crawling with military guys. We should feel safe."

"Have Garcia map the exact locations of each victim on a map and tag me in it, please. I want to see what we are dealing with as far as bodies go. I'll see about making up a profile of some kind for locations. Garcia loaded a better program to our tablets for that."

"Yes. Garcia said she just uploads everything to both considering how much we never have our own." Aaron looked like he wanted to give Spencer a kiss, but he didn't. Spencer gave him a smile back before he slipped out of the SUV and around the other to get into the passenger seat. Steve was a good driver, used to escort people around as needed as he was from the motor pool but had been military. He had injured his knee enough to where he wasn't able to be a full agent, but he loved working on vehicles, and he was sometimes used as a guard for various things. Spencer knew that it was Aaron's feelings about how the case felt that made him want to make sure that someone was with Spencer since he was going deep in the woods and would be distracted reading the files.

The drive to where the closest point on the trail was took little time, but Spencer was thankfully done with the file.

"I'll go out on my own. No need to injure yourself. I have an escort, it seems." Spencer pointed at the officer who was standing at the head of the trail, talking to a detective. There were also a few masters-at-arms standing around. Given how close this was happening to the base, Spencer could agree that it was needed.

"Sure, Sir. I brought a book." Steve pulled a hardback from the pocket in the door and waved it a little before settling in with it. The sun was barely peeking through the trees, but there were glowing markers for the trail.

Spencer went through his messenger bag and grabbed his compass as well as a flashlight before he grabbed his coffee and slipped out. The tablet tucked under his arm easily as he slipped the items into his suit jacket pockets. He found the trail easy enough to walk on. It was well maintained for night running. Spencer looked at the bodies of the first two victims again as they were obviously staged. Spencer checked his phone and then called Aaron, slipping his earpiece into his ear. He heard it connect, but Aaron said nothing. Spencer checked the trail and saw that there were quarter-mile markers using the same standard that he had seen on the trails inside of FBI Academy. So it seemed it was a joint effort to keep the trail clear.

"Reid," Aaron said after a few minutes.

"Here," Spencer said.

"Searchers have found a second body, curled the exact same way that the first three had been. It's further down the trail by about half a mile. Check them both out. I have someone behind you for better pictures so we can all see them."

"I'll stay on the line." Spencer opened up the writing pad on the tablet and pulled the stylus free, and he marked the days down and the body count. "One, one, two."

"Reid?" Callahan asked.

"Fibonacci sequence. One, one-two, three, five, eight. I know you guys had a case that dealt with it before, but I just...not only body count but the days apart as well. Three days from now, we will possibly have three bodies dropped."

"That's a little weird, isn't it. That means that they were will be longer periods of cool down, not shortened as one would expect with most killers," Anderson said.

"Yes, and I agree it's weird, but right now, it's the only thing that I have. The way the bodies are curled as well speaks to something deliberate. The UnSub wants them that way."

"I agree," Aaron said.

Spencer let the words of the team discussing everything that Spencer already knew about the case as he arrived at the first body. He looked at the face. "Hotch," Spencer said nothing else to get the attention of the team.

"Go," Aaron said.

"FBI. I know the face from the Hoover building. I am unsure exactly who, but that's where I see them. Rigor is fully set, and hands curled in, so it's going to take the ME to get them broken to get fingerprints to check. I would go ahead and see who is missing."

"Check on the second body, Reid."

"I might lose you. The woods are deep, and the connection isn't the best now." Spencer checked his phone before slipping it back down into his pocket.

"Call back or just text what you find out."

"Sure." Spencer clicked the call off after saying goodbye. He looked around. The men and women who were securing the scene looked a little worried. Spencer wondered what that was about. He ignored it though, they were probably worried that the killer was going to come back. It could happen one or two days from now or the three that Spencer felt it might be. It could be the killer was spooked the night before and hadn't been able to leave them, and that was why the two-day gap.

"Can someone show me where the second body is?" Spencer asked.

"I've got you, Doctor Reid," a woman said. She was wearing a badge that told Spencer she was a master-at-arms.

"Feel free to call me Reid," Spencer offered. He waved for her to go first. The path split into a few areas in front of them, so Spencer knew that she would know best where she was going.

"It's Doctor or Captain, Sir. Those are your choices," the woman said with a smirk on her lips.

"What are you more comfortable with?"

"I have no care. I just figured that you would."

"Doctor is fine with me." Spencer had still not gotten used to being called Captain. Even if his guys still called him it in every single interaction that he had with them. It was normal to hear it from other people on base, though, but a few he had got to call him doctor. "And what should I call you?"

"Petty Officer Smith," she said.

Spencer nodded his head and looked ahead to see one of the splits coming up.

"How is civilian life treating you?"

"Pretty good. Still going after the assholes of the world though just a little more focused here at home." Spencer saw the officers milling around, securing the scene. The victim was still in his fatigues. Navy. Spencer groaned and reached for his phone. That meant they were going to deal with NCIS. He figured that it would be the MCRT, and that meant Gibbs. Spencer was not looking forward to the pissing match that he was going to be getting into. If this case were just Navy men and women, Spencer wouldn't mind handing it over, but it was from three different parts of the government and now the Navy. Gibbs wasn't going to be happy about losing this at all. Spencer really had no cares about that, though.

Spencer texted Aaron that the new victim is Navy and that he's sure that the MCRT for NCIS was on its way. Aaron texted back that he would deal with it, and there was nothing. Spencer started to take notes on the victim and the placement. This was one easier to identify as the name on the uniform matched the name that was brought up by Spencer when he searched Quantico records. They were just waiting on the FBI victim.

"What are you doing at my crime scene?" A gruff voice asked.

Spencer looked at the man who was standing in front of him with his arms crossed and a glare on his face.

"Sorry, this is my crime scene, not yours, Agent Gibbs."

"Do I know you?"

"No, you don't. Heard of you, though."

"Captain Reid," Smith said as she came over to Spencer to stand beside him.

Spencer kept his snort to himself that Smith was putting her at odds with the civilian arm of the security for the Navy. He wondered just how many people Gibbs had pissed off from running his team the way that he did. Spencer looked up to see that there were two people with Gibbs. Spencer stood up and handed off the tablet to Smith after he hit send on the file. Aaron would get it and check it over before giving the team what they needed to know about the case at hand. Spencer didn't recognize either one of the agents with Gibbs.

"Smith?" Spencer asked.

"Agents David and McGee, Captain."

Spencer saw the look that David was giving him. She didn't think much of him at all, did she? Spencer could deal with that. Though it was very strange for her to make that assessment after knowing nothing of him.

"Thank you, Petty Officer Smith. If you don't mind going back enough to call my team. I think that I need more help with these two bodies."

"This is my scene, Petty Officer," Gibbs said.

"I'm sorry, Agent Gibbs, but my last orders from my commander was that I was to give the FBI whatever help they needed. Until such a time that I'm told differently. I'm going to do what Captain Reid tells me to do." Smith laid the tablet down on the ground over where a kit was, it was safe where it was at. Spencer laid his compass and phone there as well.

"Reid, huh?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes, Agent Gibbs."

"Air Force?" David asked. There was derision in her voice.

"Worked enough with the Air Force, but no, Agent David, I was not Air Force."

"Doc!" a voice called out.

Spencer turned around to see that it was Henley, a young man who was support for the team a few times on spin-ups before he had transferred to a stationary position when his wife became pregnant. It seems that he was transferred to Quantico. Henley saluted Spencer, and Spencer gave him one back before he noticed what he was doing.

"What can I do for you, Henley?" Spencer asked. He was still too far away for Spencer to read his rank.

"The LEOs are being pulled back and left in the perimeter, and base masters-at-arms are going to keep security while the FBI does its job. I've been assigned to you. My commander thought that it would be funny."

"Funny because you know me?" Spencer asked.

"No, Sir. Funny because my nickname on base is Doc after I acquired my criminal justice degree."

"Congratulations, Senior Chief Petty Officer Henley. Right now, the only issue that I have is NCIS won't leave."

"I'll escort them out." Henley stepped over to where he was between the three NCIS agents and the body. "If you will come with me, I'll escort you to your vehicle."

"Take another step, and you won't take another without aid," David threatened. Spencer could hear an accent in there. She was Jewish. Mossad. Spencer remembered hearing about a little issue with a Mossad officer getting onto NCIS as a liaison. He was staring at her, it seemed.

McGee looked smug while Gibbs just looked indifferent.

"Are you telling me, Agent David, that you are refusing the orders of the agent in charge of the crime scene?" Spencer asked.

"You are not in charge, Agent Gibbs is."

"Senior Chief Petty Officer Henley, these agents have two seconds to turn and leave before I am going to arrest them for interfering with a crime scene."

"Yes, Captain."

McGee actually turned like he was going to leave but stopped when David and Gibbs didn't follow.

Spencer looked at where the body was and where they were. The three NCIS agents were a good enough distance away. Spencer checked his gun to make sure it was snapped in place and wouldn't fall out. Gibbs' eyes widened at the sight of the gun in a non-standard position for an FBI agent. "Arrest them," Spencer ordered.

"Yes, Sir."

David moved like she was going to attack, putting herself closer to Spencer to take out Henley. Spencer caught her and tossed her to the ground after she got a solid punch to his gut in an aborted move from what she had been trying to do to Henley. She growled at him and rushed him. Spencer turned to where he wasn't facing the body anymore. Spencer heard Henley talking, and there was a scuffle, and then another body joined the fray. Spencer ignored them. His only care was the poorly trained Mossad agent that was trying to take him on. Spencer fought with her for a few minutes before he took her down to the ground on her belly. It's the world of seconds to get her hands behind her back and cuffed. He didn't get up, though. He looked at Henley, who had McGee in cuffs, and Gibbs was being held a gunpoint with his hands up by another master-at-arms.

"Cuffs," Spencer said. Henley handed over a set of zips. Spencer secured David's ankles together and then trusses her like an animal. It matched her way of acting.

Spencer got out his crouch and looked at Gibbs. "Captain Spencer Reid, retired, Agent Gibbs, formerly of the SEALs. Your pet assassin has nothing on me. Especially since I would assume she was trained more to use her body in other ways than fighting. She was damned easy to take down."

"This is my crime scene, and you are going to pay for that."

"I doubt it."

"Reid?" Aaron asked as he came around the curve in the path. Behind him were Callahan and Rossi.

"I want Agent Davis arrested for assaulting a Federal Agent in the working of his job," Spencer said.

Aaron looked like he wanted to murder her. Spencer touched his stomach and felt the tenderness but nothing horrible. He had got worse from a kick from Jack while playing rough in the backyard.

"What happened?"

"Agent Gibbs refused to leave my crime scene, and I asked Senior Chief Petty Officer Henley to escort them out. David went to attack him, and I interfered. The Navy doesn't look kindly on NCIS attacking a master-at-arms, but I am sure that she'll face worse for attacking me. I decided to take her down. She acted like an animal that can't control herself, so I made sure that she was treated like an animal."

"I'll kill you for this," David spat.

Spencer looked at her and frowned. She was really fucking stupid, or she thought she was more important than she was. Spencer sighed. He walked over and picked up his phone before he looked at himself. There was mud and other bits of nature on his person but not too bad, really. Nothing was ripped, it could be cleaned and fixed. Spencer dialed the Director. It would better if he dealt with the SecNav. Spencer ignored Aaron talking to Gibbs as he laid it all out to Richmond.

"You can't play nice, can you?" Richmond asked.

"I can play nice with those who don't think they are better than me for no other reason than she is Mossad trained."

"I told Director Vance that NCIS was not going to be working the case given the spread of the bodies across all agencies in the alphabet soup. He agreed and said he would make sure his teams were aware. Vance just called with a message that his MCRT took off without full approval from him for the body. It seems they are working on their own, given it's a Navy body. I'll make sure this is dealt with. Pass me to Hotch."

"Hotch." Spencer held out the phone as he looked at Gibbs, who was still standing with a gun pointed at him. McGee looked pissed.

"Director," Aaron said as soon as the phone was pressed to his ear.

"Agent Gibbs, if you had waited to be given the case, this wouldn't have happened. This is the fourth body, and the first three were other Federal agencies. You and Agent McGee will be released, but Agent David is not going with you."

"I'm not leaving without my agent, Agent Reid."

"Then you can escort her. I care not, but she's not getting out of this."

"I need my team intact for cases," Gibbs said.

"Then you should keep them in check. You should have stopped her before she thought she was going to fight off a master-at-arms for the right to stay here where she's not authorized to be." Aaron handed Spencer back his phone. "This was an FBI scene, and you were not welcome, which you were told back at the start of the trail you came in on. I was warned of your arrival and started to come here before you ever made it to Captain Reid."

Spencer wondered why Aaron had called him that. Aaron never did that. Doctor, when agent wasn't the best thing to call him but never Captain.

David snorted and started to spill more vitriol at Spencer. She wanted a rematch.

Aaron walked over to where she was looking up at them. He looked at Henley, who had a roll of duct tape in his hand. He handed it over, and Aaron slapped a long piece across her mouth. It was stuck in her hair a little under her ears and was going to hurt like a bitch when it was ripped off. That didn't stop her from trying to yell at them.

"I would have thought you would have learned to control her, Gibbs. After she ran off DiNozzo. You've not been able to keep an agent in your SFA position, and Agent McGee hasn't been stepping up enough to take it over either. She'll never be fit for it."

"Agent David is a fine agent," Gibbs said. He lowered his hands when the gun was put away when Aaron laid a hand over the master-at-arms's shoulder.

"She is no such thing, or she never would have attacked another person over jurisdiction on a case. So please tell me again how she is a good agent."

"Let her go."

"No. SecNav is sending someone to take custody of her. I want her gone, and I never want to see her again."

"You don't have control here, Agent Hotchner."

"You just think that I don't, Gibbs."

Spencer wanted to smirk that Aaron wasn't even using Gibbs' title at all. It was stupid how much Spencer loved it when Aaron dressed down people who tried to upset or hurt someone on the team. Aaron was a bully to people like that, but never anyone who didn't deserve it. Aaron never went after those who were downtrodden or weaker than him. Well, nearly every single person that they took down was weaker than Aaron, but Aaron wasn't mean to those who didn't deserve it.

There was a stalemate while the master-at-arms from Quantico came out to take David into custody. She fought them after her legs were undone, but there wasn't a lot she could do because they had a good hold on her. McGee was escorted out, and Gibbs only left when David and McGee were nearly out of sight. Two more masters-at-arms followed behind them.

"You okay?" Aaron looked like he wanted to touch, but he didn't in deference to where they were and what they were doing.

"I let her have the first punch. It was weak. I've been hit worse by Jack while playing with him. So yeah, everything is fine. Now it's just a waiting game."

"We have a narrowed down timeline on at least three victims."

"Yeah?" Spencer asked.

"The dumps and then abductions happen within two hours of each other. The Navy guy went missing two days ago, and we are going to assume the FBI agent is the same way."

"So somewhere this morning, two to three people went missing within hours of the bodies being dumped."

"Yes, JJ is working on the release for the heads of every single agency and military installation in the area so they can start a headcount of everyone, no matter if it's their day off or not. SecNav wants to talk to you and to get your opinion on what kinds of lockdowns should be done. Once you are both happy, you are to give that to leaders for the rest of the branches."

"They don't want to deal with the FBI, do they?"

"No. SecNav would rather deal with you."

"Yay me," Spencer said.

"I got your notes, and it's the same that the rest of the team agrees on for the previous victims."

* * *

Spencer scratched at the back of his neck and looked around the area he was patrolling in the woods around Quantico. He wasn't alone and actually had Henley and Smith with him. The team was spread around in the area that they all thought the UnSub would drop the three bodies. It had taken the work of only a few hours to find the three victims taken that morning while they were on their way to work. All in areas that were were not recorded on video. Everyone military and in a Federal agency in an hour radius around DC was doing the buddy system. No one was around anywhere alone at all. There was no trace evidence on any of the victims, and it was startling how in control the UnSub was even with the cooldown between dumps and taking the victims.

There was no extensive torture to the bodies, which also was a weird thing. Given the level of coolheadedness to do what the UnSub was doing, Spencer expected to see more damage to the two bodies that had been dropped last, but there was nothing. The kill was the only thing that the killer was about, it seemed. Spencer didn't like it. They didn't have a good profile on the killer other than he was taking, killing, and abducting on the Fibonacci Sequence. That wasn't enough for anything at all. The level of care in the kill of the victims was astounding. None of it was hurried. The kidnappings were all perfect.

"Doc," Henley said.

"Why do you call him that?" Smith asked.

"Doc was the nickname that his team gave him."

"Team?"

"He was on a SEAL team. That's how I knew him."

Spencer could feel Smith's eyes on him for that. He was long used to that, so he just ignored it wholesale.

"It was used more than his last name and his rank when I was there. Though he stayed on a single team his entire run there so that probably had something to do with it.

"Stop," Spencer hissed. There was something wrong. His senses were set off, and he wasn't sure what it was. He looked around, even up into the trees, because he had at least evolved enough to look for threats from above. He wasn't sure about much of anything. It was still dark, and their flashlights were good, but there was a lot of darkness around them. That's why everyone was in teams of three. Spencer texted Aaron that he had a bad feeling about this whole thing, and he got back that Aaron and Rossi's teams were headed toward him. Spencer waved for Henley and Smith to keep on going. They rounded a turn that was blocked by a huge tree and saw that there was a body in front of them. All three of them stopped, and Spencer kept his head on a swivel as he looked for where the UnSub was. He texted Aaron that he had a body. They were expecting three, and there was one in the same position that all of the others were. He didn't want to be right about any of it, but it seemed that he was at least partially right. Next up, it was five bodies five days from them.

Spencer's phone vibrated. He saw it was a text from Aaron that search team five wasn't responding at all, and when Callahan's team had got there, there was a body, and the three on the team's weapons and phones were in a pile.

"Okay, three have been taken. He's looking for two more."

"What?" Smith asked.

"Search team ten is missing their weapons, and phones were left. There was a body. This is a body. So unless the third body has two of their team missing, the UnSub should be around here." Spencer slipped his phone into his pocket and drew his gun and started to search around the area for the UnSub. There was nothing. Spencer waved for the other two to go forward. It was best to just keep on going. Spencer had already texted Aaron the coordinates of where they were. Aaron would find the body. It was best to just keep on moving.

Around a small curve of the trail, Spencer started to hear a hiss, and then there was smoke all over.

"Run," Spencer said, he felt the pull on his limbs, though. It was a knockout gas of some kind. And all of them had inhaled too much it already to not pass out. He heard someone crashing through the underbrush of the trail around them. Spencer turned around at the noise and fires off a shot. No one else would approach without calling out who they were. With the sound of the first shot, Spencer heard Aaron shouting from too far away. Or it just sounded too far away. Spencer wasn't sure. He saw the man again, this time the gas was cleared enough that he could see the face. He knew it too. An officer in the Air Force that had been dishonorably discharged five years ago for conduct unbecoming. He liked torturing too much. Nothing had been able to be proven, so he had just been released.

Spencer fired again, but the man became two in his vision, and he wasn't sure if he hit him or not. Down Spencer went. He wasn't sure what was going on. He kept his hand on his gun, though as the guy got closer, but then he was out like a light. There was nothing but darkness all around.

* * *

Aaron heard the gunshot, and he screamed for Spencer. The teams were all converging on bodies numbers two and three. A second shot went off. The first had all three people missing from it, so when Spencer and Anderson let him know that they had bodies, Aaron pulled all teams to those two spots to hopefully find their agents and masters-at-arms were all fine. The smell of the gas was faint in the air, and Aaron could see the canister on the ground where it had been planted along with what looked like a rigged time delay device for the pin to snap. Aaron wasn't sure what was going on at all, but he didn't like it.

The two phones on the ground and the three guns beside was enough to tell Aaron that nothing good was happening. Then he saw the back-up was Aaron's. Spencer had grabbed it on accident when they had geared up to leave after a late evening nap to try and catch the UnSub.

"I have Smith," Dave called out.

"Reid and Henley have been taken," Aaron said as he checked the phones. The one was Spencer's. He knew the case that was on it, but the second had an image of Henley's dog on the screen.

"Repeat that," Callahan said.

"The UnSub has all five victims, and Reid is one of them."


	20. Chapter 20

## Chapter 20

### January 2017

Aaron knew that something wrong as soon as he heard the first gunshot that morning. He hadn't been able to get there in time, and Spencer and Henley had been taken. They didn't have to waste time looking for the victims as all of them were part of the searchers.

"So, opportunity, or did he change his plans when he realized that we would be searching?" Dave asked.

"We don't know. He stalks the victims. Every single one of the ones taken has been here since the beginning. He could have been stalking all of us and took the ones that were the easiest to get."

"Reid's not easy to take," Anderson said.

"What?" Aaron asked.

"None of the victims were that stellar on anything. None, up until Reid. He took out Agent David and didn't even break a sweat. If the UnSub was watching, he could have seen that as a challenge. He might have taken Reid to show his superiority. I mean, he took five victims from a crowded forest in under an hour. Yes, he used knockout gas for the last two, but still, he got away with them. He's not stupid, but he's got to be strong. We were all running through those trees, so the sound would have been nothing to just think it was someone who was part of the search parties."

"He did choose the perfect time to do it," Dave ventured.

Aaron nodded his head. He heard his cell phone go off, it was Joe asking how many would be there for lunch. Aaron closed his eyes and swallowed past the lump in his throat. "I'm going to go and notify Joe about Spencer's abduction."

"Do you want someone to come with you?" JJ asked.

"No. Joe will be the one going and getting the kids from school, and I will probably go with him in a few hours."

"He's not going to be upset at you," Callahan said.

"I know, but the last time that Spencer was taken captive by someone, he lost a kidney and part of his hearing and was put out by the SEALs because of it. This is not going to go well for Joe and his emotions. There is also the fact that Joe never knew until Spencer was recovered the two main times that he was taken captive. This is life. Joe's never had to deal with that."

"Damn," Dave said.

"Yeah." Aaron stood up and grabbed the files. "Let me know when the blood comes back and if there were prints on anything. Hopefully, with us going in on him, the UnSub messed something up."

"I'll walk you out," Dave said.

"Thanks." Aaron gathered up what he wanted and slipped it into his briefcase and slipped out of the room. The team had their duties. Callahan was going to sit on the forensic unit until the blood was processed, and Aaron had the DNA or at least blood type of the man who had taken Spencer.

"He got off two shots into the UnSub with his gun while he was drugged. I get that he was an officer in the SEALs Aaron, but that's..."

"He broke some of my records, here at the FBI Dave. If he wanted, he could probably train with Edgerton and get onto a SWAT team as a Sniper and get rankings at the top of the charts for all government agencies. He loves shooting guns, which is weird considering how much he goes on about science fiction and fantasy in books, film, and TV. He learns for fun, and that means all things. Joe introduced him to guns when he was a pre-teen, and he's never looked back. That he was able to focus and put two into the UnSub while drugged doesn't shock me at all."

"I think I need to finally read his full file. I stopped at the academic and didn't really look past that at all."

"It might be. While I’m gone, you are in control, and when it comes time to breach whatever place we find this UnSub is at, you will have to be in control of it."

Aaron's phone chimed. He looked and saw it was one of the MEs for the case. "Fuck."

"Aaron?"

"The ME found that the first two victims were killed the day before their body was dumped. We were going with the assumption after the pair of victims that the one with the most damage fought back, and it was why they were killed early."

"Yes."

"No. The victims from this morning? Deaths are about a day apart. Meaning he's killing one for each day. So sometime tomorrow, one of the five taken today will die."

"I'll brief the team. You go and talk to Joe."

"If we don't get him back, Dave." Aaron stopped because there was nothing else that needed to be said. "I'll take Section Chief."

"Aaron."

"No, I can't...I know I won't be able to be in the field again. It's going to crush Jack and Rory and I can't...I can't leave them alone to deal with this while I go on cases. Mateo has been talking about moving elsewhere, but a few discrete feelers haven't shown that anyone wants to take over for him. I can't leave the teams alone like that, and I don't think my heart will be anywhere near where I can go after any of them anymore."

"Just put your plans on hold. We will find him alive."

"He has a one in five chance of dying to tomorrow, and every single day after that, it goes up. One in four, one in three. You know this as well as I do. Just let me know when the blood is back."

"I will. Good luck."

Aaron nodded his head. He knew that the lab wouldn't take that long, given that the case was now a top priority for every single law enforcement officer in the DC area. With seven dead so far and five kidnapped, there wasn't a single bit of red tape that wasn't being cut through, as long as it was all still legal to do.

The drive to the small house that Joe and the kids were staying at was something that Aaron couldn't remember. He sat in the FBI SUV outside of the house and just looked at it. It looked small and quaint and utterly at odds with Joe and Spencer. Aaron was finding that Joe, while a SEAL, had been a little different than every other SEAL that he had ever known, and his way of raising Spencer had shaped him into the man that he was. Spencer was the antithesis for everything that was the standard cookie-cutter SEAL that most thought they all were. It was that or SEAL Team 8 just made them all a little weird, which given who was on the team, Aaron could see that as well. Wright had made a few weird choices for the people on his team, but he and Young had a team that was tight and worked like a well-oiled machine when Aaron had seen them in Afghanistan.

Aaron closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the headrest of the car. He wasn't ready to make this, but he was the only one that could make it.

A knock on the glass had Aaron opened his eyes. Joe was standing at the driver's side door with a mug in each hand. Aaron waved for him to back up, and he slipped out of the SUV. Joe handed over a mug, and Aaron smell coffee.

"Figured I should smoke you out of the SUV. Spencer hasn't responded to the last seven messages I sent to him, and so that was why I texted you. That he's not responded and you are here alone, I don't think I am going to like this, am I?"

"No, Sir."

"Wow, a sir out of your lips. Is my son fine?"

"I can't answer that." Aaron took a sip of the coffee and found that it wasn't just coffee. There was whiskey in there, and Aaron downed the entire mug.

"Yeah, let's take this inside. I'll get you a refill without the added kick." Joe looked worried, but he said nothing else as he walked into the house.

Aaron noticed that he wasn't using his cane, which Aaron knew would be hard with two cups. He wasn't limping too bad, so he was probably still under the strong control of his afternoon pain killers. It was strange to see him without that cane. Though it had taken Aaron a good long while after Christmas to get used to Joe's new cane, which was purple with rainbows on it because it was the one that Rory had picked when she had gone shopping with Spencer. Aaron had been shocked that Joe had even used it. Yet, he loved it so much that he had hugged Rory for a long time.

"So what happened during the attempt to catch the UnSub dumping bodies this morning?"

"He took five of the people we had out looking for him, including Spencer. However, Spencer got two shots off on him, and so we were able to get blood, which is more than we were able to get at any other scene."

"Spencer's held up to torture well before, and he'll have five days. You have a long time to try and find him."

"ME confirmed this morning that the day after capture, one of the victims is killed. Of the three that were found this morning, one died Friday, and then another on Saturday, and the final on Sunday and they were dumped this morning."

"So he could die tomorrow, and you won't know until the UnSub is caught or the bodies are dumped."

"Yes, Sir."

"Drop the Sir, Aaron."

Aaron nodded. Joe was looking at him, and Aaron wasn't sure what was going through the man's mind. Usually, Aaron would say that Joe was easy as hell to read, but Aaron now realized that it wasn't anything like that at all. He wasn't masking a damned thing most of the time, but this look on this man's face was one of pure nothing. He was a soldier who knew well how to hide anything and everything that he wanted. Aaron's phone ringing startled him out what he was thinking, and Aaron wasn't sure that he wanted to answer it.

"Hotchner," Aaron said. He clicked the phone to the speaker because his hands were shaking.

"Hotch," Callahan said.

"Go ahead. You are on speaker with Joe here."

"We have a match on the blood. Discharged Navy Officer by the name of Mortimer. We don't have his full file yet."

"James?" Joe asked, his voice cracking.

"Yes," Callahan said, she sounded shocked.

"James Mortimer was discharged from BUD/S before the end for bullying and conduct unbecoming an officer. He had a single target and tried to kill him during Hell Week. Spencer fought back. He will be the main focus of Mortimer's attacks."

"Joe, get a hold of whoever you have to. Get me that file on him, the full one."

"Spencer didn't talk about it much, but after BUD/S was over, I was told by a few friends about how he did once they figured out who his father was. I'll get you his file within the hour. Spencer gave me your work email. I'll have it sent there."

"Joe...what we know of this guy, if he's a bully like you said, he's going to want to have the most time with Spencer, that means day five for his death."

"Yeah, and Spencer's trained for torture, and he can't keep his fucking mouth shut. The Navy didn't get that fully out of him; he provokes caged beasts all of the time. He might make Mortimer snap and go on a spree with the victims. I have read everything that I can on profiling. I might not have the training you do, but I know how to read guys like this. I've killed enough of them in my time. Mortimer got under his skin, he never stooped to his level of anything, but he was a bully that pissed Spencer off more than anything else ever had in his history. He's going to keep on pushing him if Mortimer doesn't have them gagged."

"I need to head back. We can try and track him and see what's up with everything in his file."

"Let me know everything that you can, please," Joe pleaded.

"Yeah. Are you still okay to pick up the kids? I can send an Agent with everything that his going on."

"No, I'll be fine."

Aaron looked at Joe. There was something in his eyes that Aaron wasn't sure that he liked. He hoped that Joe wasn't stupid enough to try and track down Mortimer on his own. Aaron really wanted to set a uniform on him from the Quantico cops, but he didn't have one to spare.

* * *

Aaron heard the chime from his phone to see that it was a text from Joe. The kids had been picked up from school, and they knew something was wrong but that Joe was waiting for him to tell them.

"Hotch!" JJ called out. They were working out of the station house in Quantico since Aaron had got back after talking to Joe.

"Yes?"

"We have visitors."

Aaron looked up, and he stopped cold in his tracks. He knew the man that was leading the charge into the room.

"Captain, Sir," Aaron said, hoping that the rank was right. The man was in civilian clothes, as were the rest of the guys who were behind him. All fourteen of them. Aaron looked at his team and noticed the moment that they all saw Rivera and Agnew and put the pieces together.

"Have you found Doc yet?" Wright asked.

"No, Sir, but we are narrowing it down."

"Joe said it was Mortimer. Do you know if he took Spencer on chance or if this whole thing was set up to take him?"

"No, we don't." Aaron looked at his phone to see a text from Mateo on it. "Guys, say hello to Reid's SEAL team, who has been asked by the SecNav to go with us on the breach to take down Mortimer. We need to get vests-" Aaron stopped when Wright shook his head.

"We have our own gear, Hotch. Nothing on FBI gear, but my guys trust their own gear before someone else's."

"Understandable. What can you tell us about Mortimer?" Aaron looked at Agnew and Rivera. He knew that those two had been in BUD/S with Spencer.

"Nick and I will discuss that with Rossi," Rivera said as he pointed between them.

"Okay. He's over there." Aaron pointed at the desk that Dave had taken over to work using.

"Have you tried to track Doc's scent?" Flores asked.

"Yes, it was lost."

"So, did you ever meet Inferno?" Flores asked.

"No. Who is that?"

Flores whistled, and there was the sound of claws on the tile as a kitted-out dog, like he would be overseas, came running. "I couldn't remember if his first deployment was the one we were on with you."

"I would say after. You still had Dante," Aaron said. He crouched down, and Inferno stayed where he was but looked at him. Aaron smiled.

"Inferno here was trained to track all of us through the worst conditions, but especially Doc after he had been taken twice before. Neither of those times was near as bad as his last. Still, I'd like to head out with him and see if we can pick up Doc's trail."

"Anderson, go with Flores and show him where Reid was taken from." Aaron had no clue what to do with the rest of them, but three guys peeled off with Flores and Inferno. "Inferno?"

Wright laughed a little at that. "Doc thought it was funny. We had Dante and then we had Inferno. Dante was minorly injured, but his nose wasn't the same, so he was retired to live with another family, and we got Inferno. He's been with the team since just after you left Afghanistan. Give us things to do, and we will be out of your hair, if not I'll get them out there in the woods looking for signs of Mortimer."

"We really don't have anything right now."

Aaron watched as Wright turned around and started to give instructions on what the guys were to do. The rest of the SEALs turned around and left, leaving behind a lot of really confused people.

"So that was his team?" Callahan asked.

"Yes."

"Yeah, I don't think that I want to be Mortimer," Callahan said.

"No." Aaron checked the email that Mateo had forwarded him on what the SEAL Team was allowed to do and what they were not allowed to do, which was precious little actually. "These guys have got Spencer back three times, they will do it again."

"And teach us how to do it," JJ said.

Despite it all, Aaron smiled at that.

* * *

Flores and Inferno found the path that Mortimer took to leave the woods, and with it was a set of tire tracks that they were able to track to an exit that was watched by the camera, so they obtained a vehicle identification. Aaron put out the BOLO on it. That led them to where they were at the moment, which was outside of the warehouse that was rigged. Aaron knew that SWAT was set up, they were going to be the snipers and the eyes, but Aaron was all for letting the SEALs be the breaching team even though Aaron wanted to be the one through the door.

"Bets on him getting his own ass free and the other captives?" a voice asked.

Aaron looked to see that the SEALs were all making bets on just how they were going to find Spencer when they got inside of that place. If Aaron hadn't been warned that they were all a very good bunch, Aaron would have been pissed as hell about it all. He knew that these guys loved to do this shit, and the team was split up in a way that they hadn't been a year before. Aaron knew that the guys were all happy to be together with one another. Even if it meant chasing after Spencer even after he wasn't part of them anymore. Aaron didn't want to say, even in his own head, that Spencer wasn't ever going to be their problem. Aaron had known for SEAL teams to do the impossible for those they considered theirs, and as much as Aaron had a claim on Spencer since he was on his team, the SEAL team would be Spencer's team for the rest of his life.

Watching the team move, Aaron realized quickly where Spencer was supposed to be but also that Wright was covering it. He was issuing commands over their smaller comm network that Aaron was patched into but not the rest of the team. Aaron had two earwigs in, one for each comm channel. It was better than having to swap back and forth.

The building was in sight, but not that much. The SEAL team was going to head in and around the area before Aaron, and his team got close to hopefully draw Mortimer's attention. They were still not sure that he didn't have help in some fashion. If it was a pair or a pack, Mortimer was the top of the chain, and everyone else was a submissive. That didn't make them less deadly as Mortimer was only seen hanging out with other ex-military guys, and he had worked for a security firm since he had been kicked out of the Navy. Aaron had read his file, and the bullying charges were too numerous to count, and it had only been his near attempted murder of Spencer that had the last straw.

That also meant that those who snatched up ex-military men left and right had snatched him up before the ink had been dry on his discharge papers, and he had been killing for money for years. He wasn't stupid, but the Fibonacci Sequence was the only thing that was odd about everything that he was doing.

"Hotch," a voice called out over the comms.

"Go," Aaron said.

"I have a line of sight on the five victims but not the UnSub, and I can get over and get a receiver on the window. It's got a small hole." It was Agnew now that Aaron had heard more than his nickname from him.

Aaron looked at Wright, and he saw that the man was waiting on Aaron. Swallowing thickly, Aaron nodded his head. Wright gave the order, and then there was the crackle as it was set up once Agnew had the mic in place.

"Is he alive?" a voice asked over the comm.

"I don't know yet. He's not woken up at all."

"Hotch is gonna be pissed if we kill his boy," another said.

"Doc will be fine."

"That's Henley," Agnew said.

Aaron remembered his voice, but the other three were unknown.

"Shit, he's come back," Henley said.

Aaron swallowed his fear to make sure that he was ready to move.

"Fucking FBI found me already," Mortimer said. Aaron had listened to the video of his court-martial, and he knew the voice. "Wake up, pansy." There was the sound of a thud.

"Hey, fucker. It's not nice to hit a man who is knocked out." Henley, it seemed, had more bravery in him than smarts.

"Agnew, do you have eyes?" Wright asked.

"No, Sir. Check with SWAT."

"Hotch?" Wright asked.

"SWAT, check-in, tell me what you see."

"The victims are all strung up by their arms in chains. Mortimer is standing in front of Agent Reid. The thing is, I don't think he's out like they think he is."

"Agreed," another voice chimed in.

"SEALs, swap to SWAT channel," Wright commanded.

Aaron had told Wright it would be better, but Aaron waited for Wright to make the decision. Or for Dave to put his foot down about it. One of those two things was going to happen, and he would rather just let it happen at its own pace.

"Describe to us what Reid is doing or isn't doing, please."

"His fingers are moving slightly, but no one is looking at his hands."

"Kellett, get your ass into position to see what he is doing."

"Yes, Sir," Kellett said.

Aaron listened as the SEAL moved into a position to see what was going on.

"He's tapping something out, but I can't make out what it is from this position. I think it's Morse code of some kind. It's not any of the sign languages that he's learned over the years. Mortimer is turning around to face him again."

There was a thud again over the mic.

"No reaction," Kellett said. There was another thud over the comm. "He's turning around to look at Henley."

"Sir, it's Morse code, and Agent Reid is asking to let Inferno go." Aaron recognized the voice of the head of the local SWAT unit for the FBI. "What's Inferno?"

"Doc's best friend," Flores said.

"How does he know we are here?"

"Oh, fuck," Anderson called out. Aaron heard a small squeal over the comms, and then there was a new feed.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Mortimer asked, and it was coming over the comm in stereo.

"Reid's newest hearing aid is wholly in the ear and is small. It picks up the level of noise that he can't," Anderson said.

"Yeah, and?" Aaron asked.

"And it's secure and allows for our signals to be transmitted over it. He can hear the FBI channel."

"Flores release Inferno and be prepared to breach. I'm sure that Reid will give the signal."

"What signal?" one of the SWAT asked.

"You don't miss it," Young said, and he sounded smug as hell.

Aaron heard Inferno on the concrete as Flores lead her to where they were headed. Aaron waved the FBI people around him inward. Aaron was behind them, he wasn't allowed to breach first given the fact that he was in a relationship with Spencer.

The sound of Inferno growling and then a single shot of a gun before a groan and screaming was chaos over the comms. Aaron thought that he heard Spencer saying something sharply, but he wasn't all that sure.

"Oh fucking hell, Reid," Torres said over the comm two minutes later.

"Target down, neck snapped," Spencer said loud enough that it was picked up by more than just a single comm.

Aaron moved, pushing past those who were heading inside. The SEAL team had already gone through the doors in front of him. It was the main door, but it had been where Agnew and Rivera had breached. The warehouse was empty, with no traps. Aaron wondered how stupid Mortimer was on thinking he wasn't going to be found. Though he probably hadn't thought that he was going to get shot and his blood getting everywhere.

Spencer was being held up by Young, and then his cuffs were off of him, and Young lowered him down. The other SEALs were working on getting the other victims released.

"By the way, Hotch, your pet SEAL? Can we play with him?" the SWAT lead asked.

"No," more than once voice rang out, and Aaron was pretty sure it was mostly the SEALs who said that.

"Sit-rep," Wright said as he came in just behind Aaron.

"Building barely secure, Mortimer was banking on no one finding him," Spencer said as he rubbed his wrists. "He's snapped though more than in control of himself. He thought I was out and gave his whole speech before the others woke up. He did it because of that whole spiral I went on about the Fibonacci Sequence during that one break during a class we had in BUD/S. The instructor and I talked about it for twenty minutes. He found out I guess that I joined the FBI and made his victims who they were to attract my team. He figured that even if it wasn't my team at first, we would be called in. He had planned to take me in the next round from the house, by the way, but then I was there. He kept turning his back to me, so while he was engaged with Inferno going for his balls, which I'm glad we were able to teach him that I was able to get my legs around his neck and snapped it."

"Clear the building on and take an FBI agent with you for evidence. Don't fuck this up," Wright commanded.

"His kill room is the one with the black door. I'm sure that you will find what you want in it." Spencer was looking at his wrists, while they were bloody, they were nearly as bloody as the other three victims. Henley's looked a little like Spencer's. They hadn't freaked out.

"Medic, Reid," Wright said.

"Yes, Sir." Spencer's eyes found Aaron's, and he stopped beside him before he walked out with the other victims with him. It seemed they didn't want to be that far from him. Inferno followed him as well.

"He was trained as a Doc babysitter," Flores said.

"Seems he got a lot of training."

"Oh, yeah. Most of it was us training him on extra things like that."

"So that command that Spencer gave to him?" Aaron asked.

"Literally go for the balls. Even if he misses, he's going to hit in that area, and that hurts like a bitch. It would be enough."

"Besides is not the first time that Doc had snapped the neck of a guy once when they were on the ground fighting. Insurgents took over a camp we were holed up in. Or at least they tried. Not the easiest thing the world to do, but you know him and physics."

Aaron pulled his earwigs as he heard others talking to Spencer. He hadn't realized that Spencer had a new hearing aid. It wasn't something that Spencer talked about that much. He saw it as something he needed like simple medications, and Aaron understood his mindset that it wasn't a big thing. He just didn't understand why Anderson knew and not him.

It was hours before teams started to leave the building. Before Aaron was able to leave himself. The SEALs had packed up and left and were probably drinking somewhere. Aaron sent the rest of the team home, and he checked his phone often. Aaron was staying until the last of CSU was leaving. He didn't want a single thing to be left out of this. Even though Mortimer was dead, there was still the case to go. Aaron planned on going after the company that he worked for. The man wasn't sane at all, and that needed to be dealt with. He wasn't going to leave another person to snap at that place. There was a team at Mortimer's house, cleaning it out of anything and everything that could be used. There was already a joint Navy and FBI team working on going through everything.

Aaron stopped as he saw a guy sitting in the SUV front passenger seat. The back door was open, and the SUV was running. Aaron had told Dave to leave the keys in it, and it seemed that someone ah stayed. Aaron watched as the CSU pulled away, and then he walked to where the SUV. The person in the front turned around, and it was Flores. Aaron walked to where he could see inside the back of the SUV and found that Spencer was asleep in the second row of the SUV. He was dead to the world; it seemed with Inferno out of his gear and asleep on him. Aaron raised his eyes at the sight and looked to Flores.

"Fell asleep like this, and when he started to have a nightmare, Inferno got on top of him."

"And he didn't do anything?" Aaron asked.

"Nope. Inferno used to sleep with him in the field. I slept next to him anyway so it wasn't hard to put Inferno between us. Why?"

"He doesn't like to be touched when he's coming out of a nightmare."

"I think that we all learned to adjust to Inferno getting on us when we were going to make noise in the field. Look, he'll get there. We all have issues. He was pretty much issue free until that last time. I mean, we've all been caught and tortured in one way, shape, or form. Whether it's nightmares about bombs that killed us but not others, torture at the hands of sick fucks. Just stick around. He loves you. I've known that since you left. He looked like he sent his heart back to the US with you. None of us said a damned thing. Then he came home hurt. I was one of the ones that stayed with him in the infirmary, you know that right?"

"No, he doesn't talk about it much."

"He was asking for you. Drugged out of his gourd and wanting you. We passed it off with those who we didn't trust with him and his sexuality that it was Erin, not Aaron. Thankfully your name wasn't like Bob or anything that we couldn't pass off as feminine sounding."

"What should we do?" Aaron asked, waving his hand at Spencer.

"Close up the SUV and we and drive and drop him off at the house where Joe is at and then you can drop me at the station. The team will be there, giving statements still. We like to be thorough."

"Spencer's reports are thorough as hell. He trained that into all you?" Aaron asked. He shut the door on the side he was on. Inferno lifted his head and looked around and then laid it back down. Aaron walked around the SUV and shut the driver's side back door before he got settled into the driver's seat. It was weird to look back into the back and see a dog head instead of Spencer's head. He smiled, though, as the dog was very protective of Spencer. He probably missed him as part of his pack.

"You are going to take care of him, right?" Flores asked.

"Yes. I know that it's not the team, and I know that it's not as close as you guys were, but we will take care of him as much as he lets us."

"Yeah, he's a stubborn ass who worries more about everyone else than he does his own self."

"Feed him. Possibly get him a little drunk. I know with his kidney that it's a crapshoot on that, but he does talk when drinking, so maybe even just a beer and talk to him. He will dig in and be even more stubborn."

"I know." Aaron did know that.

At every single stop and light, Aaron looked back at Spencer, seeing his lover sleeping the sleep of the safe. Aaron figured that Spencer would want to get his case file out of the way before long.

"He gave his statement to Wright as well as two different FBI agents. I didn't catch their names. I wasn't paying attention to anything but Doc. I wanted to make sure that he was fine. He's still one of us. He'll never stop being one of us."

"We have a few team members who left the team proper, but I call them mine, so I do get it. I know you guys are mostly stationed nearly four hours away, but I doubt that if you have a weekend that Joe will care if you all take over his house. I mean, it's fucking huge."

"He bought it with the idea that at least some of us would. We also know that he has well-padded sleeping bags, so the rest of us can take the floor in rooms if needed. Wright wouldn't do it but the rest of us? Yeah, we would. I'll talk to them about it. Maybe, two months from now? Do we wanna go ahead and set it?"

"I'll make sure you know the weekend we are guaranteed to have off because of rotation for on-call."

Aaron looked in the mirror again and saw that Spencer was still out of it, and it seemed that Inferno was as well. Aaron had plans.

### February 2017

Aaron felt the sharp movement in the bed, and he reached out to grab the arm that was moving. Spencer reacted inside of the nightmare, but Aaron was ready. He used Spencer's movement to grab him by the arm and pull him down, face first on the bed. Aaron grabbed his other arm and straddled Spencer's waist. The nightmares seemed to have been unleashed with the kidnapping that Spencer had gone through, even though Spencer hadn't been injured at all, other than rubbed raw wrists. Aaron hated to do this to trap Spencer like this, but until he was awake, he was a danger to not only Aaron but the kids. He usually wasn't good until he was outside, and running through the house wasn't a good idea.

The kids were well aware not to touch Spencer after he had freaked when taking a nap on the couch about a week after he had been rescued. Aaron knew that Spencer had been repressing memories, but he had thought that Spencer was doing better than this. It was like a flood wall had been broken inside of Spencer's brain. Aaron hated the haunted look in Spencer's eyes when he woke up, and once he was up, he wasn't going back to sleep at all that night. Aaron looked at the time as he waited for Spencer to stop fighting him and wake up. It was just after two. They had gone to bed early, Spencer falling asleep on Aaron in bed while Aaron had read a book.

"Wake up, Spencer," Aaron said, his voice just above a whisper. Aaron leaned over to where his forehead was resting on Spencer's head, and he just kept on whispering to Spencer. Spencer's entire body was tense, but Aaron felt it when it got tenser and then started to relax more.

"Did I hurt you?" Spencer asked, his voice was tone dead.

Aaron hated it. He hated that his lover didn't care enough about his own damned nightmares, just the fact that he didn't hurt anyone. Aaron had already figured out what he wanted to do this time. He had it all out in his head, he had been planning it for over a week and set to be put into play as soon as he was fully ready for it. Aaron let go of Spencer's arms and laid down on top of him, off to the side so Spencer could breathe. He slotted his head beside Spencer's on the pillow, propped up in his forehead so he could breathe just fine.

"Physically, no. Emotionally, yes," Aaron said. He waited to see what Spencer was going to do. Aaron figured that he would do one of two things. He was either going to clam up and not say a damned thing, or he was going to physically remove himself from the bed and Aaron. There wasn't much that Aaron could do to stop that, but he could follow Spencer instead of giving him space. It wasn't like there was really a lot that Spencer would do to hurt him to get Aaron to stop him. The worst that Spencer would do was get into his Jeep and try and drive off. Aaron wasn't going to let him do that. The Jeep was trapped in the garage, and Aaron could get behind it before the door was open enough for him to get out.

Aaron was going to make Spencer confront his demons. He really didn't care what it took. Even if Aaron had to send the kids to Joe or to Jessica or take him and Spencer away from it all. He was doing to do what he had to do. They had the weekend, Aaron had made sure that they were not going to be called in. He wanted to make sure that everything was all well and good with Spencer before taking him on a case again. The stark reminder of Elle was in his mind. She had not reacted well at all to having been taken by Tobias Hankel and tortured and been made to dig her own grave. She had snapped on a case that followed that and nearly killed an innocent. Aaron didn't think that Spencer would be that bad. It wasn't in Spencer's make-up at all. He was too righteous.

Joe was worried about Spencer as well, and he was waiting to get a text from Aaron on what to do.

"Talk to me, sweetheart," Aaron said. He used the only pet name that Spencer hadn't sneered at. Aaron figured when Spencer was more used to him using it, he might be able to slip another one in.

Aaron hadn't quite figured out what to do if Spencer didn't talk. He really hoped that he would figure it out. It was kind of the lynchpin of it all.

"Please, Spencer, fucking, please talk to me." Aaron wasn't above pleading and crying if it got him what he wanted.

Aaron didn't expect Spencer to start to cry into the pillow. He went from being still and soundless to a sob unleash from Spencer's throat. Aaron wiggled his arms under Spencer, one a band across his chest and the other under his neck. After a few minutes, Spencer started to move, Aaron afraid that he was trying to leave wrapped his arms around him even tighter. Spencer, though, fought out of it and pushed Aaron down onto the bed on his back and just collapsed on him, crying more.

Time lost meaning as Spencer cried himself to sleep again. Aaron didn't sleep though, he just laid there and held Spencer close. It felt good that Spencer was willing to do it. Aaron kept his hand moving on Spencer's back, a gentle up and down of fingers on the spine, and then when Aaron's arm was too tired, he would rub his fingers in a single area.

Spencer woke up in degrees. Aaron had learned Spencer's waking up by the third time that Aaron had woke up before him. The hand that was holding onto Aaron's side was gripping tightly until it wasn't anymore. Then the fingers started to move in the same push and pull that Aaron's fingers were on his back, his mind just processing enough stimulation without Spencer being awake to mimic it. Next was the head, Spencer rubbing his cheek onto Aaron's skin. Then it was Spencer's entire body. He slid aside Aaron's hips and looked down at Aaron, his eyes were narrowed as he tried to figure Aaron out.

Aaron waited while Spencer put together the entire night. Slotting piece after piece into where it belonged. That Aaron was still there, had been holding him tight.

"I hate that I lost it," Spencer said.

"I know you do, and I hate that you lost it as well, but I can't ever be sorry about it. One of us had to give up something to be together, and while you didn't give it up willingly, you were the only one that could. I can't be anything other than what I am, and there is nothing that the Navy could offer me at all that I could do that would let me be with you enough and still do a job that I find meaningful, even in a civilian position, not and keep the kids. You didn't lose everything though Spencer and I never would have forced you. We were fine apart, but the moment that we both knew that this was a possibility, we were too linked to ever be apart again. I hate that you lost your place. I hate that those fuckers injured you just enough that you had to leave your family, but yesterday proved that they are still there. They are still your family. They will never leave you behind, no matter what happens. You have me, you have Joe, and the kids. You are not alone. Ever."

"I-" Spencer stopped and swallowed. He looked so scared. Aaron could feel how scared he was at that moment. He sat up, wrapping an arm around Spencer's waist to keep him in his lap. It felt good, almost too good, given everything that was wrong at that moment. He needed Spencer to understand that Aaron knew that he was a second choice, everything in his life right now was a second choice. But Aaron understood that second choice didn't mean that Spencer didn't want him. Out of everything that was his life right now, he was choosing Aaron and the kids because he wanted them. Out of his life, they were what Spencer wanted. They were what made this life worth living.

Spencer might not have ever actually wanted a family like this, but he wanted it now.

"I love you," Spencer said.

"I love you," Aaron said back. He brushed the short curls on Spencer's forehead back. He smiled at him, and Spencer smiled back. "I know that if you had your way, Spencer, you would be out in the field with your SEALs. I know that. The FBI is a second choice. Out of that second choice, though, you did choose the kids and me. I don't feel like I'm your second choice. You haven't lost some love of your life."

Spencer snorted a little.

"Well, I guess the SEALs will always be the big love of your life, but I understand that. I could never leave my job without being pissed off. I probably wouldn't take it nearly as good as you did. That you are having issues, isn't a big deal. That you are trying to hide them from me, it a big deal. I can handle a black eye, and I can handle bruised ribs. I can't handle you hiding. I can fend you off enough to wake you up. I'm not someone who isn't used to violence. I'm not gonna become some scared person who starts to fear you. You've been at war for years. It will take time to come down from that. You feel safe, and now your brain is trying to deal with everything from the kidnapping and injury that nearly killed you. Then add that to this latest kidnapping, and you are not doing well at all. The only time you have slept well at all is when Inferno was sleeping on top of you."

"I want to be happy. I do."

"Good. Then let's work on you being happy." Aaron pulled Spencer in for a kiss before hugging him tightly. They could work on this, as long as they talked.


	21. Chapter 21

## Chapter 21

### November 2018

Spencer rolled over in bed and sighed as he heard the noises below. The bedroom door was open, and Spencer checked that he was still in at least a pair of underwear. He was wearing the sleep pants that he kind of remembered Aaron dressing him in when they had got home after a grueling two-week case. A second BAU had ended up being called in to help them as the manhunt for the UnSub had spread over the entire state of Kansas. That team had brought Dalek with them as well because the nightmares for Spencer had been getting worse. Spencer hadn't had one on a case in nearly a year at that point, but the fact that the seventh victim found was a former SEAL, one that had been medically discharged long before Spencer had joined had just tipped over Spencer's mind.

The use of a service dog was strange for an active FBI agent, but it was working for him. Spencer felt the bed shake, and then Dalek wiggled up to lay his head on Spencer's chest. The movement was something that Spencer was used to. Dalek had his own bed in the room, a big fluffy thing that Spencer spent too much time cleaning to make sure that it was fit for his dog, but Dalek was worth it.

"Hey, boy." Spencer started to scratch at Dalek's head. It hadn't even been a sure thing that Dalek would be able to help Spencer, but Aaron had been so convinced that Spencer had done it just to make his lover happy. It had been damned easy to slot him into their life, even if it had been a little heartbreaking to train him at first, and the kids couldn't play with him all of the time. Still, as Dalek had got older, he learned fast. He was only on the job when Spencer was sleeping. Even naps were monitored by Dalek, and if Spencer started to have a nightmare, Dalek would slip on top of him. Usually, across his hips and thighs but others along his entire body if he was asleep on the couch.

Dalek had slotted into their life like he had belonged from the beginning. Spencer couldn't see life without him in it. Spencer really didn't want to. Spencer was a little shocked that he hadn't been abandoned for bacon, as even Spencer could smell it from where Aaron had to be making breakfast. It smelled fucking good, but Spencer was comfortable in bed, and he really didn't want to get out of it. His body was aching from where he had taken down the UnSub after a nearly ten-mile chase through the streets and a few broken doors during that as well. Spencer's body felt like a giant bruise. He didn't like it, but that was the way that it was. He loved his job, and he didn't want to be doing anything else.

It had taken a while, but Spencer had finally let go of the little bit of anger that had been inside of him about losing his place in the SEALs. It was horrible and sucked, but he had to embrace his new life with both hands and his heart and head clear. It hadn't been easy, but Spencer had done it. Including finding a new psychologist that dealt with losses like that.

Reaching over, Spencer grabbed his hearing aid and slipped it into his ear. It had been put on charge, and Spencer was glad of that. His other two backups were in his go-bag downstairs somewhere. Even though Spencer didn't need it when he was home, he heard well enough out of his other ear, he had gotten used to the weight and only took it out to charge it. It had saved his life. Though the ones that were rated to replace his comms were in his go-bag as well. It was a bit of tech that a branch of the FBI was developing in coordination with a tech company for better comms had been the one to approach Anderson about Spencer using it as a trial. They had their own case that they slipped into that charged them up and then shut down to preserve the life of the battery. The case was something that Spencer did have to charge. It was a very interesting bit of tech that could be used in more than just law enforcement.

Dalek huffed a little and moved to where he was lying fully on Spencer.

"I'm good, boy, you can go." Spencer started to scratch behind Dalek's ears, and the dog settled his head down on Spencer's chest, and his eyes closed. "Ah, you are tired, and if you go down, you have to play with the kids, so you are staying on the job." Spencer leaned up enough to kiss Dalek's nose. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

Spencer laid his head back on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. He could hear the soft murmur of the TV as the kids watched cartoons. There was another set of sounds that were closer but still far away, he figured that it was Joe puttering around in his room.

Spencer had moved way too many times over the past three years since he had left the Navy. There was the move to DC into the new house, then the move into Aaron's house because it was just something that one did with someone they loved and was in a relationship then there was the move from that house back to the first house with Aaron, the kids, and Dalek tagging along. Aaron and Spencer had moved into the top floor of the house, Spencer's old floor, and the kids were on the same floor as Joe.

Jessica still watched the kids while Joe did a few things during the week with his volunteering at the local VA. Joe had become the primary babysitter and chauffeur to sporting events when Aaron and Spencer were on cases. If Jack and Rory had games in different places, Joe and Jessica split up, and tag teamed it. Life had calmed down a lot, and it had almost become like Spencer didn't remember a time where Aaron and the kids weren't part of his life. Spencer wouldn't trade it for anything, not even getting to go back to the SEALs. He had moved on.

The sound that Spencer thought was Joe made more noise, and Spencer realized that it was on his floor. He frowned but really didn't care. He grabbed the bottle of water at the bedside and took a drink, which was hard with the dog on his chest, but the bottle was mostly empty, so he didn't get anything on himself. He would have to get up at some point, but he had time. The only big plans for the day were his lunch out with Aaron for Aaron's birthday and then the intimate party that night. The caterers were going to drop off the food, but it wouldn't be served by them, like that first party for Aaron years before. No, it was just going to be the team and then a few of Spencer's old team that Aaron had got closer to since the whole thing where they helped to find Spencer.

Dalek's head shot up, and then he gingerly stood up beside Spencer. He leaned over and licked up the side of Spencer's face before he took off for the door. Spencer laughed. Someone had to have used the dog whistle as Spencer hadn't heard a damned thing. Spencer heard the door shutting and laughed. Dalek was the only one who regularly shut the bedroom door when he left it. There was a bit of rope hanging from the knob that allowed him to that since the door opened into the room. Aaron had been the one to teach it to Dalek for the nights where sex was on the menu before sleep, and Dalek was already in the room. The first time that Aaron had told Dalek to leave for mattress fun, Spencer had nearly fallen off of the bed laughing. Then Dalek had got off the bed and pulled the door shut behind him. Spencer had fallen off the bed then.

Spencer closed his eyes as the sun crept up into the room, bathing Spencer in light. He still didn't want to get up. His muscle relaxers were in the bathroom, and he had not grabbed them the night before so he couldn't take them while he was still in bed and get them working.

The door opened, and Spencer knew it was a human of some kind, but he wasn't that worried. There were too many people in the house for someone to get this far up and get to him. The hypervigilance was gone, and Spencer had forgotten what that was like. The bed dipped, and then the smell of food hit Spencer. He opened his eyes to see that it was Aaron with a tray of food in his hands. Aaron moved his head in a movement that Told Spencer he wanted him to get up and lean against the headboard. Spencer moved slow to do it, getting the pillows set up to where his body would be comfortable.

"It's your birthday, I should be making you breakfast."

"Joe made this. The kids and Dalek are eating now. I brought ours up here so we could spend the morning together."

Spencer reached out for the orange juice, but he saw the small cup of pills that was beside his coffee. He bypassed the juice and grabbed two pieces of toast, and kept them pressed together before he took a large bit of them. He downed the toast before grabbing the pills and taking them with the glass of water. There was a pain killer as well as a muscle relaxer and his standard vitamins in that cup. Aaron had probably already taken his for the day. They both had a divider that had their vitamins and other things in them that they took. Aaron was taking one of the baby aspirins a day after Jack had a freak out when one of the older ladies on the street had a heart attack. Aaron's father had a heart attack while he had been undergoing chemo for cancer, which Jack knew, but it was hard to get Jack to understand that it was the chemo that made his heart weak. Spencer figured it was just a matter of time before Spencer was taking it as well. He really didn't mind at all, though. He would do nearly anything to make them happy.

"I should be spoiling you," Spencer said.

"And you will, but I know your body is bruised to hell, Spencer. There is no use in doing something to try and make me happy that will just make me worry about you. That's not going to make today a good day. Just being with you and the kids is enough of a present for me. I know you have the party handled and what you don't Joe can finish up. So let's just be happy in here together."

"What is this?" Spencer asked as he poked at the pile of hash browns covered in white pepper gravy on a side plate.

"That's my favorite way to eat hash browns. Just try it before you decide you don't like it."

Spencer stuck his tongue out at Aaron. Spencer wasn't that picky about food that he didn't try new things. He just didn't like to be surprised with new foods. Spencer watched as Aaron mixed his up a little before he took a bite. The tray was not the biggest, and Aaron had to sit cross-legged on the bed to be able to get to his food, but he looked happy, so Spencer didn't try and move it to give Aaron better access. Spencer mixed his up as well and then took a bite. He chewed slowly and tried to figure out if he liked it or not. He took another bite and figured that he did well enough to eat them, but he probably wouldn't ever crave them. Spencer grabbed bacon to eat as he felt the pills starting to kick in and his body adjusting to feeling less like he had been rolled down a rocky cliff and hit every rock on the way down.

Breakfast was eaten in silence, but that wasn't that big of a deal. Spencer was starved, and he was eating so quick that talking would slow him down, and he didn't want that. He would rather just eat and then talk after. Aaron was eating at a slower, but not by much, pace. It was a wonderful little morning.

"We worked a case once, it was around the time that things with Haley started to turn to the bad. She hated that I had stepped up to Unit Chief, but after the bombing and the team losing Gideon, I didn't think that someone else stepping in was a good idea. I felt like it was the thing that I had to do. Yeah, junior agents coming in to work on the team was different than a new person stepping in and leading us in a very different manner than we were used to. I had stepped in before when Gideon took off time to lecture or when he broke the bones in his leg bad enough that he was off for six months. I was the devil that they knew. Strauss backed it up quickly because she didn't want to have to do it. Though she wasn't there much longer after that. The other BAU teams were chaffing under the pressure she was putting on us all to perform. I think that Gideon was tempering that. We had a few good years with the next one, and then he retired, and Mateo took over."

Spencer grabbed the orange juice to wash down the toast in his mouth. "Mateo is a good man. I know he's thinking of leaving the BAU. He made a comment about you taking over."

"Not anytime soon. I thought for a little while that I might do it but I just...I can't just do that, I don't want to leave being Unit Chief. I think I have Garrett talked into it. His teams going through a shakeup right now after Barnes, but they weathered it all just fine with the rest of the BAU backing them up. I'm seriously not that upset to see her gone, though. After she tried to tell us what cases to take to make the most headlines. That has never been what the BAU is about. We aren't going after the showy crimes. We go where the need is the most, not the ones that will get the best media presence."

"She's a cunt, and I heard JJ and Callahan call her that, and so I think I'm good to call her that."

Aaron laughed a little, and his eyes softened. He reached out and picked up Spencer's hand before he kissed the back of it. Spencer felt the blush on his face. He still wasn't all the way used to Aaron's little shows of affection like that. He loved them, and he never wanted Aaron to stop. He also didn't want to ever feel like he was getting used to them. There was something to having little things like that make Spencer feel like he was the most important person in the world. He never wanted it to stop.

* * *

Aaron heard Spencer laughing, but he didn't see his lover anywhere in the living room. Yes, today was Aaron's day, but Aaron had a surprise for him. It was his birthday, and from the moment that Spencer had been able to move without pain, Aaron felt like he was cherished. That part might have started with the very gentle sex they had with Aaron making Spencer promise he wouldn't try and do anything too strenuous while they were doing it. Spencer was moving better now that he had been up and moving his muscles. The morning was always the worst for those kinds of injuries. The night allowed the muscles to tighten up, and it was hell to get them loose when that hurt as much as it did.

By lunch, Spencer was good to go, taking Aaron out for a lunch reservation at one of the hottest places in the area. The food had been wonderful, the companionship the best in the world, and just being like two normal people had been what Aaron had needed. Spencer was good at that; he knew Aaron better than anyone else in his life had. He didn't shy away from calling out when he was being an asshole, but he also wasn't cruel when he was doing it.

Spencer's head was bobbing through the throng of people, and Aaron followed behind him at a distance enough away that Spencer wasn't going to notice him at all. He wanted to see Spencer's face when the door opened.

"Wel-Freddie." Spencer shot forward before the name was fully out of his lips, and he was wrapping Freddie up in a hug. Aaron smiled at the way that they both just clung to each other for a few minutes. Aaron knew that they were going to need a few minutes. He turned to see that JJ and Garcia were interested in what was going on, but he just motioned for them to turn around. They both gave him a pout, but Aaron didn't care. He found Joe's eyes and gave him a thumbs up.

Freddie was injured, Aaron knew that after a car wreck that had put out for the rest of the season. It hadn't made the news yet, and Aaron still wasn't sure that Freddie should have been flying, but when he had called the house and Aaron had answered, Aaron couldn't deny him a place to go that nearly no one would find him at. Joe would make a good nursemaid, as well.

"Where's Reid?" Morgan asked as he walked over with Hank hanging onto his hand. Aaron held out his hands, and the toddler grinned and held out his hands as well.

"He's got a visitor that he's going to get settled into a room, and then he'll be back down."

"Okay. Savannah wanted me to ask about a few things that Hank's been doing."

"You do realize that he's never raised a toddler, right?"

"It's more...psychological than behavioral or at least she thinks so. It's nothing big." Morgan didn't look that upset. It was nothing but, Aaron could see that he wasn't worried. It was a good thing as he wasn't sure how long it was going to take Spencer to come down.

"I'll go and get Hank some snacks. I know dinner is in half an hour."

"Yeah. Not as fancy as last time, but I think it's going to go over well. Spencer spent two days getting the menu how he wanted it weeks ago. Jack's looking forward to the macaroni and cheese stuff that Spencer wanted."

"You didn't have a hand in the food?" Morgan asked.

"More than telling him I wanted comfort food. I trust him. I trust that he's a good person to pick what I like. He's good at helping to good the stuff or make sure that Joe picks the right stuff when he's the one doing the cooking. So yeah, I trust him."

"I hear you have a dog?" Morgan asked.

"Ah, not the way you are thinking we don't have a dog. It's not a pet as much as it’s a service animal for Spencer. Yes, the kids get to play with Dalek, but they also understand that sometimes he has to work. I'm sure he'll come down at some point. He was asleep on his bed in the master bedroom last that I saw him before the party started."

"Dalek?"

"Yeah, Spencer picked him out right away when he was introduced to the litter from the breeder. The other names were normal and fun, but Spencer latched right onto him with that name. I wasn't that shocked, really. I mean, it's kind of the perfect name for him. Well, for both of them. Dalek does like to kill everything, and really I mean everything. He's taken to killing moles in the backyard. It's quite horrible. Spencer thinks he's part cat. He shouldn't have that much luck with them."

Aaron heard the sound of claws on hardwood and looked at the stairs where he saw Dalek making a mad dash down them. He went right for the kitchen, and then Aaron heard the door open and shut. Dalek could get out, but getting back in needed a human. There was a button that he could press to open the backdoor, day or night. The chime that said the door had been opened sounded in the room, and then it went silent.

"Dalek?" Morgan asked.

"Yup."

"Morgan," Spencer said as he walked over to them. He kissed Aaron on the cheek and then held out his hand for Morgan.

"Reid. Before I leave, I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, Garcia forwarded me the email from Savannah. I've already sent her some things on his peculiarities that I researched a long time ago. Yes, he's advanced in some ways but not in others. Don't worry. He's perfectly fine, and he'll do just fine. You are no slouch mentally, and neither is his mother. You have to expect a few advanced things from him."

"The talk is lovely, but I think it's food time."

"Not, yet, Aaron. Go get a snack. I made sure those little smoky things you like were made earlier. They should be enough to tide you over."

Aaron wrapped his arm around Spencer's waist and pulled him with him as he walked into the kitchen. Dalek would want in at some point, and it was just easier to do it from the room. There was no one else in the kitchen at the moment, and Aaron wasn't sure how long that would last, but he was more than happy to take what he could. He crowded Spencer over toward the blank spot on the counter and turned him around, lifting Spencer to sit there. Spencer smiled at him and parted his legs so that Aaron could get between them.

Spencer's arms draped over Aaron's shoulders and held him in place.

"Happy birthday, my love," Spencer said as he leaned forward to rub the tip of his nose on Aaron's. Aaron smiled back at him and tipped his head to the side to take the kiss that Spencer was denying him. Spencer laughed and pressed his lips to Aaron's.

"Papa!" Rory yelled as she came running into the room.

Aaron stepped back and waited for her to get close so he could pick her up and hand her over to Spencer. Spencer closed his legs, and Rory was settled across them. Jack was on her heels, and a bark told Aaron that Dalek was ready to come in. Aaron let the dog in, and instead of running to see the people in the house, he trotted over to settle, tangled in Spencer's legs. Jack placed himself in front of Aaron and leaned back into him, looking up at Spencer.

"We are happy, right?" Rory asked.

"Why would you ask that, Rory-bug?" Spencer asked, tipping her head up to where he was looking at her upside down.

"I mean...we were happy before, so what's better than happy?"

"Better than happy is wonderful. We are happy, ecstatic, wonderful-" Spencer stopped only when Aaron covered his mouth with his hand.

"Papa will just keep on going with those words until someone shuts him up, and since I'm not allowed to kiss him silent anymore, that's what we are going to have to live with."

Spencer glared at Aaron for his words, but he said nothing. Aaron kept it right there as he had learned that if he just pulled it off, Spencer would start to go again. The glint in Spencer's eye turned a little wicked, and then Aaron felt a tongue on his hand.

"Ugh," Aaron said as he drew his hand back and wiped on Spencer's pants leg. Jack and Rory were giggling.

"-delirious, merry, joyful-"

"Kiss him, Daddy, please!" Rory yelled as she interrupted Spencer.

Aaron leaned forward and kissed him, which was the whole thing that Spencer had been going for, Aaron assumed. Aaron smiled at Spencer when he pulled back. The smile had been on his face all day, something that Aaron was happy about. He figured that he was going to get the crinkles at the corner of his eyes from them. Aaron really didn't care about that. He loved the show of how happy he was. He would keep it as proof of his love for Spencer and his family.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it, Rory?" Spencer asked. He bounced the leg that she was mainly sitting on, and Rory giggled again.

"It really was. So many cooties. You both share so many cooties." Rory made a gagging noise that set Jack off laughing.

"You'll both find someone that you want to share cooties with at some point, I promise you," Spencer said.

The door opened, and Aaron saw that it was the caterers, dropping off the food. Spencer slowly let Rory drop down to the floor, and Dalek made himself scarce, probably going to finally meet everyone out in the living room who he hadn't met before. Aaron tugged Jack out with him while Spencer worked on the food. When the caterers were all set up, Aaron listened as Spencer thanked them and gave them more than enough money to cover the food and a good tip. The pans were all disposable, so there was nothing to pick up afterward.

"Hey, Jack, let everyone know it's food time, yeah?" Spencer didn't look up from where he was pulling down the disposable plates from the cabinet that was stocked with all of the things for parties. Aaron wasn't that shocked that the cabinet was all laid out in a very set way. He just wasn't sure if that was Spencer, Joe, or a combination of both of them. Aaron figured it was probably a minor Joe and a major Spencer thing. Aaron knew that Joe was the standard military man who liked things in their places and that everything that a place but Spencer was the more detailed one. There was a reasoning for the layout that hadn't taken Aaron long at all to figure out because it was logical in a very strong way. The kids were still a little unsure of how the house was laid out, from the bathrooms to the closets, but they were learning.

The meal part was simple, it was a lot of finger foods or simple things that were just dropped onto the plates that were eaten with forks or spoons. There weren't sauces to be added, sandwiches to eat, or anything like that. Aaron was enjoying it. It allowed everyone to keep on mingling around the room.

Aaron made sure to talk to everyone at least once for longer than five minutes. It was interesting to listen to everyone around him as he talked, though. This was his friends and most of his family. Singing Happy Birthday to Aaron was a raucous affair, and Aaron was pretty sure that he was going to get a noise complaint about it, but no cop showed up.

People started to leave in small groups and then larger as they realized that the party was winding down. Spencer and Joe shipped people off with food left and right, leaving them with nothing left other than a little bit of cake that was for after lunch the next day. Aaron was glad there wasn't a fridge full of leftovers. He was glad to have eaten what he had but didn't want a whole bunch of it to eat for days.

Aaron slipped out into the backyard with Dalek after getting the kids down to bed finally. Joe had slipped into his room just before that, so it was only Aaron, Spencer and Dalek left awake. Freddie had been asleep for long before the party was even over, according to Spencer. It was a clear night, not horribly cold to Aaron. There were no clouds in the sky, and Aaron could see a few stars, despite the light pollution from the greater DC area.

There was a soft sound behind, and Aaron didn't turn as he heard the sound of Spencer's bare feet on the grass. Aaron would never understand Spencer loving to walk on the grass, no matter the weather in the backyard. A strong arm wrapped around Aaron's waist and Spencer's chin settled over his shoulder.

"Good day?" Spencer asked.

"The best but only because you and the kids were here," Aaron said. He tipped his head to the side to rest his cheek against Spencer's as well as he could.

"I know, but I also know you don't get to see some of these people enough, so let me have my fun with parties on your birthday."

"Thank you for letting me throw a small one for you this past year with just the kids and Joe."

"Mom used to make such a big deal about getting me books for my birthday, and I just never got to where I wanted a big party like this. I understand that some want it, but I just never got used to it."

"Speaking of Diana, how is she doing?" Aaron didn't make Spence talk about her, but he asked how she was doing after he knew that Spencer had called and talked to her. Even though it killed Spencer, she had started to talk to him after he had left the military. Aaron hated that she had never accepted him when he was in the military and while Aaron knew that he didn't shy away from talking about his friends from the SEAL team that he missed, and Aaron knew that things were tense. Spencer wasn't doing it to provoke her but to remind her that she had missed a lot of his life for her own issues.

"Good. She's deteriorating quickly with the Early Onset Alzheimer's, but she's where she's happy, so I'm not going to pull her even though there are a few studies I could try and get her in. It would just make things worse between us. She wants to stay there and has said it several times when she's lucid enough." Spencer smiled, and Aaron could feel the movement of his cheek as he did it.

Aaron knew that it was the end of the discussion, and he was fine with that. He had checked in and was going to let things be for a while on that. The end of that road wasn't going to be pretty. Aaron knew that Joe wasn't looking forward to it, not since the point when Diana's doctor had called about her diagnosis. The day that Spencer had to go back to take care of her final wishes was going to either be a small bump in the road or a large one, and there was no way to guess which one it was going to be. Aaron was ready, as ready as he could be.

As long as Aaron had Spencer at his side, he could face anything that came at him.

"I'll get the blanket, and we can set the alarm for the house and just sit out here until we are too cold or we are falling asleep."

"Sure. I'll get the pillows." Aaron turned around and kissed Spencer quickly before he could get away. Spencer hummed into the kiss before he pulled away to go inside and get the blankets for them to cuddle under. Aaron set up the lounger that was at the edge of the deck and then looked at Spencer as he set the alarm and then slipped outside. The door was shut, but it wasn't locked. They had done this enough during the summer months that it was old hat. Spencer was bonier, so he went on top because Aaron's weight on him was not a good thing. They had found that out the hard way.

Aaron settled onto the lounger as Spencer shook out the two blankets and lined them up to drape them over top of them. Aaron wrapped his arms around Spencer as he settled down. They started to warm up nearly instantly. There was no breeze. Even if Spencer fell asleep, Aaron would keep them out here until he was too tired to stay awake. It was another thing that they did, whoever was the last awake was the one to make sure they went inside after the night they spent out and got rained on in the spring. Which hadn't bothered Spencer too much, but it was a little too much for Aaron. He didn't mind it if he knew it was coming, but getting rained on while asleep was something different.

"I don't want to be anywhere but where I am right now," Spencer said as he turned his head to press a kiss to Aaron's chin.

"Same," Aaron said, and he knew from Spencer's tone that Spencer meant it. That final little thing had shifted, and Spencer was truly happy with his life, that was all that Aaron wanted for him.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!
> 
> I can be found on MeWe [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot.


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